Summary:To identify possible vectors of Schmallenberg virus (SBV), we tested pools containing heads of biting midges (Culicoides) that were caught during the summer and early autumn of 2011 at several places in Belgium by real time RT-PCR. Pools of heads originating from following species: C. obsoletus complex, C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus were found positive, strongly indicating that these species are relevant vectors for SBV.

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Background Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis is a parasitic infection occurring in many developing countries. Data on the status of human infections in Zambia is largely lacking. We conducted a community-based study in Eastern Zambia to determine the prevalence of human taeniosis and cysticercosis in a rural community.Methods and FindingsStool and serum samples were collected from willing participants. Geographical references of the participants' households were determined and household questionnaires administered. Taeniosis was diagnosed in stool samples by coprology and by the polyclonal antibody-based copro-antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (copro-Ag ELISA), while cysticercosis was diagnosed in serum by the B158/B60 monoclonal antibody-based antigen ELISA (sero-Ag ELISA). Identification of the collected tapeworm after niclosamide treatment and purgation was done using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). A total of 255 households from 20 villages participated in the study, 718 stool and 708 serum samples were collected and examined. Forty-five faecal samples (6.3%) were found positive for taeniosis on copro-Ag ELISA while circulating cysticercus antigen was detected in 5.8% (41/708) individuals. The tapeworm recovered from one of the cases was confirmed to be T. solium on PCR-RFLP. Seropositivity (cysticercosis) was significantly positively related to age (p = 0.00) and to copro-Ag positivity (taeniosis) (p = 0.03) but not to gender. Change point analysis revealed that the frequency of cysticercus antigens increased significantly in individuals above the age of 30. Copro-Ag positivity was not related to age or gender. The following risk factors were noted to be present in the study community: free-range pig husbandry system and poor sanitation with 47.8% of the households visited lacking latrines.ConclusionsThis study has recorded high taeniosis and cysticercosis prevalences and identified the need for further studies on transmission dynamics and impact of the disease on the local people.

Until recently, bluetongue (BT) virus (BTV) serotypes reportedly causing transplacental infections were all ascribed to the use of modified live virus strains. During the 2007 BT epidemic in Belgium, a significant increase in the incidence of abortions was reported. A study including 1348 foetuses, newborns and young animals with or without suspicion of BTV infection, was conducted to investigate the occurrence of natural transplacental infection caused by wild-type BTV-8 and to check the immunocompetence of newborns. BTV RNA was present in 41% and 18.5% of aborted foetuses from dams with or without suspected BTV involvement during pregnancy, respectively. The results of dam/calf pairs sampled before colostrum uptake provide evidence of almost 10% transplacental BTV infection in newborns. Apparently immunotolerant calves were found at a level of 2.4%. The current study concludes that the combined serological and real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) result of pregnant dams gives no indication of the infection status of the offspring except in the case of a double negative result. In a group of 109 calves with clinical suspicion of BT, born during the vector-free period, 11% were found to be RT-qPCR positive. The true prevalence was estimated to be 2.3%, indicating the extent of transplacental infection in a group of 733 calves of one to 4 months of age without BT suspicion. Moreover, virus isolation was successful for two newborn calves, emphasizing the need for restricting trade to BT-free regions of pregnant dams possibly infected during gestation, even if they are BTV RT-qPCR negative.