Failure of chickens to act as sentinels during an epizootic of eastern equine encephalitis in southern New Jersey, USA.

. \bstrat ' t . A ser ies of 10 chicken f locks placed in areas of southern Nen'Jersey, USA, preceding an epizo<l t ic of eastern equirre encephal i t is (EEE) v i rus fa i led to funct ion adequatelv as sent inels for the outbreak. F,pidemiologicaldata including v i rus isolations from mosquitoes and n'i ld birds, confirmation of'equine deaths due to EEE vi rus, and a conf i rmed humat l case showed that most of the chickens placed in areas rvhere v i rus was knou' t r to be present d id not develop ant ibodv to EEE. Moreover, those that d id develop ant ibody seroconverted late in the epizo<,r t ic per iod. Data suggest that chickens do not funct ion as a warninp; mechanism for EEE vi rus but merelv act as an added indicator of v i rus act iv i ty .