Selected pieces of wax-embedded spinal cord tissue from the
sentinel animal were extracted and postfixed in 2.0% glutaraldehyde and then routinely processed and embedded in epoxy resin (Eponate 12 kit; Ted Pella, Redding, CA, USA).
On May 3, 2007, the first
sentinel animal in the program (4-year-old Holstein Friesian cow, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany) tested positive for BTV antibodies and genomes in a regional laboratory (Krefeld, Germany).
Sentinel animals were ear tagged with radio frequency (RFID) chips (All flex, USA).
#3, four
sentinel animals received water and food contaminated with faeces containing VACV.
Having an opportunity to observe animals as
sentinel animals is not only important to Central Mass., but it would be an important facility for the entire New England region."
As for dead birds passing on the disease, one official said: "Horses are very good
sentinel animals. They're
sentinel animals for eastern equine encephalitis in the south-eastern United States.
Specimens from ill humans and animals, dead birds, captive
sentinel animals (mostly chickens), wild-caught birds, and mosquitoes were collected by state and local public health departments and other cooperating state and federal agencies and tested for WNV or WNV-specific antibody.
The presence of KFD becomes noticeable when enzootic infections occur and
sentinel animals, like monkeys, start dying (9).
Local WNV surveillance networks collected and tested for WNV or antibodies specimens from human and veterinary patients, dead birds, captive
sentinel animals (mostly chickens), wild-caught birds, and mosquitoes.
Carnivores such as dogs and foxes, which prey on rodents and eat their fresh carcasses, are valuable
sentinel animals for plague serosurveillance in disease-endemic foci, although their infections are usually asymptomatic (2,3).
Because bacteremia among hosts from Zielonka was frequent (range 12%-26%) and boars are quite abundant in Europe, they could be used as
sentinel animals for detecting A.
After each natural infection,
sentinel animals seroconverted, and serum scored positive in the cNP-ELISA within 2-4 weeks.