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e-ISSN 1828-1427

  

Rivista trimestrale di Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria edita dall'Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’

A quarterly journal devoted to veterinary public health, veterinary science and medicine published by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ in Teramo, Italy

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2015 - Volume 51 (2), April-June
   
 
Maria Goffredo, Monica Catalani, Valentina Federici, Ottavio Portanti, Valeria Marini, Giuseppe Mancini, Michela Quaglia, Adriana Santilli, Liana Teodori & Giovanni Savini  
Vector species of Culicoides midges implicated in the 2012‑2014 Bluetongue epidemics in Italy 131-138
doi: 10.12834/VetIt.771.3854.1
 
Summary
In 2012, serotypes 1 and 4 of bluetongue virus (BTV) entered and co‑circulated in Sardinia. The following year, BTV‑1 spread all over Sardinia and invaded Sicily and the Italian Tyrrenian coast. In 2014, this strain spread extensively in mainland Italy, causing severe outbreaks. In late 2014, BTV‑4 was detected in Southern Italy (Apulia region). This study reports the detection of BTV in species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) collected in Italy during the epidemics between 2012 and 2014. A total of 2,925 pools (83,102 midges), sorted from 651 collections made on 339 affected farms of 12 Italian regions, were tested for the presence of BTV by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR). The study clearly shows that Culicoides imicola and Obsoletus complex have played a crucial role in the bluetongue (BT) epidemics in Italy in 2012‑2014. Nevertheless, it also shows that other species may have played a role in transmitting BTV during these outbreaks. Culicoides dewulfi and at least 3 species of the Pulicaris complex, namely Culicoides pulicaris, Culicoides newsteadi and Culicoides punctatus, were found positive to BTV. Serotype 1 was detected in all species tested, whereas the BTV‑4 was detected in the Obsoletus complex, C. imicola, and C. newsteadi.

Keywords
Bluetongue, Culicoides, C. newsteadi, C. punctatus, Vector competence.


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