Antibodies to the California group of arboviruses in the moose (Alces alces americana Clinton) population of Nova Scotia

Abstract

Moose (Alces alces americana Clinton) blood collected by hunters during the 1977 and 1978 hunting seasons was tested for California group antibodies. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests using snowshoe hare virus (SSH) as antigen yielded 37.02% HI-positive sera. Neutralization tests showed reactors reactors (67.5% positive) to SSH and classified six reactors as Jamestown Canyon virus (JC). This study reports the first finding of JC in a moose population; it also provides the first evidence of JC in Atlantic Canada and supports previous findings of SSH in Nova Scotia.