Abstract

This report provides the preliminary results of a 5-yr serologic survey of Greater Prairie Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Adult, juvenile and chicks were captured as part of a long-term field research project, Prairie Chickens & Grasslands: 2000 and Beyond (PCG2B), supported by Society of Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus, Ltd. (STCP). A 2–5 ml blood sample was taken via venipuncture from each prairie chicken. Blood samples were drawn into heparinized syringes or placed in lithium heparin tubes. Starting in August 2000, samples were divided into serum tubes and heparinized tubes.

Four hundred plasma samples collected from January 1998–August 2001 were tested for antibodies to Pasturella multocida, Salmonella typhimurium, and S. pullorum, and no antibody titers were identified. Plasma samples were screened for antibodies to Mycoplasma gallisepticum and M. synoviae using a plate test, and positive samples were re-tested using a more sensitive test, hemagglutination inhibition (HI) using turkey red blood cells. Of the 415 samples from 1998–2001, the plate test yielded over 183 positive samples but when re-evaluated using the HI assay, only two samples had very low titers for Mycoplasma gallisepticum.

Six hundred twenty-five plasma samples collected from August 2001–January 2003 were tested for Newcastle disease and avian influenza. All samples were negative for these viruses. One hundred thirty-eight serum samples collected in 2002 from Wisconsin and Minnesota have been tested for antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV). Three samples from Minnesota have low titers, and all other samples are negative for WNV.