Bobwhite quail infected with WEE virus produced viremias 20 and 32 hours post-inoculation with maximum virus titers of 103.0 TCID50/0.1 ml blood. Hemagglutination-inhibition antibody appeared in about a week, reached maximum titer in 3–6 weeks and disappeared from most birds after 12 weeks. Neutralizing antibody appeared 6 days after inoculation with an average log neutralization index of 2.7. These responses of quail are compared to those of other bird species and confirm the suitability of bobwhite for use as a sentinel animal to detect the transmission of WEE virus.
