Abstract
Wild animals are natural reservoir hosts for a variety of pathogens, and
such is the case for deer (family Cervidae). Deer were introduced to
Australia 150 years ago for farming and game, but wild deer populations
have expanded considerably in recent years, posing increasing threats to
biodiversity, agriculture and public health. There are few data
currently available on pathogens that Australian wild deer carry or
whether these organisms pose biosecurity threats to humans, wildlife,
livestock or other domestic animals. To address this knowledge gap, we
tested for the presence of seven parasitic genera in 243 blood samples
collected from four wild deer species in eastern Australia. Blood
samples were tested by PCR for the presence of Plasmodium, Trypanosoma,
Babesia, Theileria, Toxoplasma, Sarcocystis and Neospora DNA. No
amplification was obtained for either the 18S rRNA (or the cytochrome b
gene in the case of Plasmodium) of the seven selected parasitic genera,
suggesting that wild deer in eastern Australia currently pose little
risk as vectors of these parasites to livestock and humans. This survey
represents the first molecular study of its type in Australian deer and
provides important baseline information about the health status of these
animals.