Fourteen of the 17 dairy herds in Peduyim, an Israeli village, became infected with lumpy skin disease during a period of 37 days in August and September 1989. One cow in one neighbouring village and four cows in another neighbouring village also became infected, probably through being treated by a veterinarian who treated cows in Peduyim. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the original infection was brought to Peduyim and spread by stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) carried by the wind from foci of the disease at El Arish in northern Sinai, or at Ismailiya and the Nile delta in Egypt. All the cattle and the small flocks of sheep and goats in the village were slaughtered.

The biting midge Culicoides imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is the most important Old World vector of African horse sickness (AHS) and bluetongue (BT). Recent increases of BT incidence in the Mediterranean basin are attributed to its increased abundance and distribution. The phylogenetic status and genetic structure of C. imicola in this region are unknown, despite the importance of these aspects for BT epidemiology in the North American BT vector. In this study, analyses of partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) sequences were used to infer phylogenetic relationships among 50 C. imicola from Portugal, Rhodes, Israel, and South Africa and four other species of the Imicola Complex from southern Africa, and to estimate levels of matrilineal subdivision in C. imicola between Portugal and Israel. Eleven haplotypes were detected in C. imicola, and these formed one well-supported clade in maximum likelihood and Bayesian trees implying that the C. imicola samples comprise one phylogenetic species. Molecular variance was distributed mainly between Portugal and Israel, with no haplotypes shared between these countries, suggesting that female-mediated gene flow at this scale has been either limited or non-existent. Our results provide phylogenetic evidence that C. imicola in the study areas are potentially competent AHS and BT vectors. The geographical structure of the C. imicola COI haplotypes was concordant with that of BT virus serotypes in recent BT outbreaks in the Mediterranean basin, suggesting that population subdivision in its vector can impose spatial constraints on BT virus transmission.

A survey of sweet itch in horses in Israel based on a questionnaire to owners reported that 158 of 723 horses (21.8 per cent) had sweet itch lesions. The results indicated that the likelihood of a horse acquiring sweet itch decreased with increasing altitude but no definite association with rainfall zones was evident. Variation in the density of the horse population, however, obscured these observations. In the population surveyed, stallions were more sensitive than mares and pale horses appeared to be less sensitive than dark ones, but the sample size of this latter group was much smaller. Intradermal injection of extracts of Culicoides imicola and Stomoxys calcitrans gave immediate reactions in sensitive horses but delayed reactions were observed only with extracts of C imicola. Sensitivity to extracts of C circumscriptus was also evident in allergic horses. Antibodies to extracts of Culicoides species and Stomoxys species were demonstrable in the serum of normal and allergic horses by the ELISA technique.

Multiple erythematous papules accompanied by severe pruritus were observed in humans bitten by the mites (Acari) Pyemotes tritici (Newport) (Pyemotidae), Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer) (Dermanyssidae), Ornithonyssus bacoti Hirst (Macronyssidae) and Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese) (Laelapidae). Eight case histories are presented and the impact of these species on human health is discussed.

Culicoides oxystoma (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is an important vector species, reported mainly from Asia, with high potential to transmit viral diseases affecting livestock. In Japan, many arboviruses have been isolated from C. oxystoma, suggesting it as a key player in the epidemiology of several Culicoides-borne diseases. Over the years, C. oxystoma has also been reported in the Middle East region, including Israel. In this region, however, C. oxystoma cannot be easily distinguished morphologically from its sibling species included in the Culicoides schultzei complex. We therefore used genomic data for species identification and phylogeny resolution. Phylogenetic analyses based on internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA and the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) showed that C. oxystoma from Israel is closely related to C. oxystoma from Japan. Using differential probing PCR, we showed that C. oxystoma is distributed all over the country, especially in Mediterranean climate regions. Culicoides oxystoma is less common or even absent in arid regions, while the other genetic cluster of C. schultzei complex was found only in the east of the country (mostly arid and semiarid regions). The molecular finding of C. oxystoma in wide geographical regions, together with its high proportion in the general Culicoides population and its vectoring potential, imply that it may be an important vector species in the Middle East.