An enclosure trapping experiment compared numbers and engorgement of Culicoides spp. taken from treated sheep (7.5% deltamethrin) to Culicoides from untreated sheep. Attack rates were low (0.2/min), but 58% of Culicoides obsoletus s.l. and 67% of Culicoides parroti Kieffer engorged on untreated sheep, and no engorgement occurred on treated sheep on 0 and 4 d posttreatment. A UV light trap in a livestock barn collected eight Culicoides spp. (510 individuals), dominated by C. obsoletus (Meigen) (68%), Culicoides imicola Kieffer (19%), Culicoides circumscriptus Kieffer (8%), and Culicoides alazanicus Dzhafarov (4%). A more powerful but nonattractive fan trap collected five species (121 individuals) dominated by C. obsoletus (48%), C. imicola (36%), C. alazanicus (8%), and C. circumscriptus (7%). Parity of C. obsoletus and C. imicola did not vary between the light and fan traps. Engorged Culicoides in the barn (33 C. obsoletus and three C. imicola) had fed on sheep or goats (precipitin test).

The Trypanosoma theileri group includes several trypanosome species hardly distinguishable due to the lack of discriminating morphological characters. Trypanosomes belonging to this group have been isolated from different bovine, ovine, and cervids in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Americas. The principal vectors of the T. theileri group are considered tabanid flies; however, T. melophagium is transmitted exclusively by sheep keds. In 2016, 128 sand flies out of 2,728 trapped in Valsamoggia municipality, Italy, were individually dissected and an unknown trypanosome strain, named TrPhp1, was isolated from a female of the sand fly Phlebotomus perfiliewi. Sequence analysis placed this trypanosome in the T. theileri group with very high homology to other trypanosomes detected in European cervids. This is the first report of the T. theileri group isolation from a sand fly, and the possible role of this insect group in the trypanosome transmission cycle is discussed. Within the T. theileri group, the phylogenetic analysis distinguished several lineages, which, unfortunately, do not correspond with their host specificity and their taxonomic status remains ambiguous.

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Toscana virus (TOSV), transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies, is recognised as one of the most important causes of viral meningitis in summer in Mediterranean countries. A surveillance plan based on both human and entomological surveys was started in 2010 in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. Clinical samples from patients with neurological manifestations were collected during 2010 to 2012. The surveillance protocol was improved during these years, allowing the detection of 65 human infections. Most of these infections were recorded in hilly areas, where sandflies reach the highest density. Entomological sampling around the homes of the patients resulted in a low number of captured sandflies, while later sampling in a hilly area with high number of human cases (n=21) resulted in a larger number of captured sandflies. Using this approach, 25,653 sandflies were sampled, of which there were 21,157 females, which were sorted into 287 pools. TOSV RNA was detected by real-time PCR in 33 of the pools. The results highlighted the role of Phlebotomus perfiliewi as the main vector of TOSV and a potential link between vector density and virus circulation. This integrated system shows that an interdisciplinary approach improves the sensitiveness and effectiveness of health surveillance.

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