{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T04:27:29Z","timestamp":1793766449781,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Wildlife Disease Association","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>We describe the diagnostic utility of peripheral tissues from naturally infected free-ranging rabid striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) to explore enhanced rabies surveillance testing using alternative tissues to the brainstem. Fifty-two dead or moribund adult striped skunks were collected by the Larimer County Health Department (Colorado, USA) as part of routine public health rabies surveillance during November 2018\u2013July 2019 throughout Larimer County. Skunk carcasses were submitted to the Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory for rabies diagnosis using the direct fluorescent antibody test on the brainstem at the level on the pons and cerebellum. Multiple additional tissues were opportunistically collected from skunk carcasses and fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin, including brain, trigeminal ganglion, mandibular and parotid salivary glands, eyes, tongue, lip (including vibrissa), ear pinna, and uterus and fetuses if pregnant. Fixed tissues were trimmed for histology, stained with H&amp;E, and immunolabeled for detection of the rabies virus (RV) antigen. We detected RV immunopositive cells in multiple sections of brain, oral and nasal cavities, skin, and eyes as well as in the placenta and skin of fetuses from rabid skunks, suggesting the potential for transplacental transmission. We detected RV in the nerves and ganglia of salivary glands before detection in the salivary parenchymal cells in rabid skunks. The serous demilunes of the mandibular salivary gland appeared to be the first parenchymal cells to be infected with RV. We detected minimal RV immunopositive cells in the serous adenomeres of the parotid salivary gland and the mucous adenomeres of salivary tissue of the tongue. The results suggest that swabs from the oral and nasal cavities and cornea and biopsies of the skin could be of value for enhanced rabies surveillance in cases where the animal's brain has been destroyed or is unavailable.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7589\/jwd-d-26-00013","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T04:16:32Z","timestamp":1793765792000},"page":"993-1004","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF RABIES VIRUS DISSEMINATION TO PERIPHERAL TISSUES AND ORGANS IN NATURALLY INFECTED STRIPED SKUNKS (MEPHITIS MEPHITIS) FROM NORTHERN COLORADO, USA"],"prefix":"10.7589","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Terry R.","family":"Spraker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Molly","family":"Selleck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture, 4101 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Todd","family":"Bass","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Colorado State University Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy T.","family":"Gilbert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture, 4101 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4415","reference":[{"key":"5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"C Boutelle, S Bonaparte, LA Orciari, et al.  \"J Am Vet Med Assoc.\"  263, \"Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2023.\" 1310 (2025)","DOI":"10.2460\/javma.25.05.0344"},{"key":"1","unstructured":"WJ. 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Patrick, BM Bjorklund, JD Kirby, et al.  \"J Vis Exp.\"  146, \"Enhanced rabies surveillance using a direct rapid immunohistochemical test.\" e59416 (2019)","DOI":"10.3791\/59416"},{"key":"17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"AP Hsu, CH Tseng, YT Lu, et al.  \"J Vet Med Sci.\"  80, \"Development of a quantitative real-time RT-PCR assay for detecting Taiwan ferret badger rabies virus in ear tissue of ferret badgers and mice.\" 1012 (2018)","DOI":"10.1292\/jvms.17-0539"},{"key":"13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"AC Enders  and AM Carter  \"Placenta.\"  33, \"The evolving placenta: convergent evolution of variations in the endotheliochorial relationship.\" 319 (2012)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.placenta.2012.02.008"}],"container-title":["Journal of Wildlife Diseases"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T04:16:36Z","timestamp":1793765796000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-wildlife-diseases\/volume-62\/issue-4\/JWD-D-26-00013\/IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL-EVALUATION-OF-RABIES-VIRUS-DISSEMINATION-TO-PERIPHERAL-TISSUES-AND\/10.7589\/JWD-D-26-00013.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7589\/jwd-d-26-00013","relation":{},"ISSN":["0090-3558","1943-3700"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0090-3558","type":"print"},{"value":"1943-3700","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]]}}}