WEST NILE VIRUS EXPOSURE AND INFECTION AMONG HUNTER-HARVESTED RUFFED GROUSE (BONASA UMBELLUS) COHORTS IN A STABLE POPULATION.

West Nile virus (WNV) was introduced to North America two decades ago, but for many species, including Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), the effects of WNV on individuals and populations remain poorly understood. Recent studies suggest the effect of WNV on Ruffed Grouse might vary among geographic regions, depending on habitat conditions. We studied WNV in Minnesota, US, during 2018-19, in a region known to have abundant Ruffed Grouse habitat and a population cycling around a stable long-term average. We worked with cooperating hunters to collect hearts, feathers, and blood on filter strips from birds harvested in the fall to examine exposure to the virus. We detected antibodies to WNV or a flavivirus (probably WNV) in 12.5% and 12.3% of birds in 2018 and 2019, respectively. However, we did not isolate the virus from any heart samples, indicating that exposed birds were not experiencing an active infection of WNV at the time of harvest. Our findings indicate that, although Minnesota Ruffed Grouse are exposed to WNV, some birds mount a successful immune response and survive. However, our sampling approach did not account for birds that might have become infected over the summer and died, so it is unknown how much WNV mortality occurred before the fall harvest. Birds lost to WNV over the summer could reduce the number of birds that hunters see in the fall, thus reducing the quality of their hunting experiences. Management options for mitigating WNV impacts and other stressors consist primarily of providing high-quality Ruffed Grouse habitat that produces birds in good condition that are more likely to recover from infection.