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1 March 2002 SURVEY FOR RETICULOENDOTHELIOSIS VIRUSES IN WILD POPULATIONS OF GREATER AND LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS
DAVID A. WIEDENFELD, DONALD H. WOLFE, JOHN E. TOEPFER, LARRY M. MECHLIN, ROGER D. APPLEGATE, STEVE K. SHERROD
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Abstract

Reticuloendotheliosis (RE) is a viral disease documented from poultry, which has been found to cause mortality in captive Attwater's (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) and Greater (T. c. pinnatus) prairie-chickens. We surveyed blood samples from 354 Greater Prairie-Chickens from seven states collected during 1998, 1999, and 2000, and from 184 Lesser Prairie-Chickens (T. pallidicinctus) from three states during 1999 and 2000, for the presence of RE virus proviral DNA using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. All samples were negative for the presence of RE virus proviral DNA except for two samples collected from male Greater Prairie-Chickens taken in Oklahoma during 1998. This suggests that RE may not be a serious problem for most wild populations of prairie-chickens. Although our results were largely negative, because of the serious consequences of RE, the presence of the disease in wild populations of prairie-chickens should be carefully considered in any future relocation and reintroduction efforts.

DAVID A. WIEDENFELD, DONALD H. WOLFE, JOHN E. TOEPFER, LARRY M. MECHLIN, ROGER D. APPLEGATE, and STEVE K. SHERROD "SURVEY FOR RETICULOENDOTHELIOSIS VIRUSES IN WILD POPULATIONS OF GREATER AND LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKENS," The Wilson Bulletin 114(1), 142-144, (1 March 2002). https://doi.org/10.1676/0043-5643(2002)114[0142:SFRVIW]2.0.CO;2
Received: 30 July 2001; Accepted: 1 April 2002; Published: 1 March 2002
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