Bloodmeal analysis in <i>Culicoides</i> midges collected near horses, donkeys and zebras in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Riddin, Megan A.; Venter, Gert J.; Labuschagne, Karien; Villet, Martin H.

doi:10.1111/mve.12381

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Horse density and land cover were also key factors in the jackknife test, and there was high probability of C.imicola presence in the "Urban and built-up" and "Closed shrublands" areas. The horse density was positively correlated with the AHS occurrence (Riddin, Venter, Labuschagne, & Villet, 2019); other studies (Bakhoum et al, 2016;Fall et al, 2015;Garros et al, 2011) also showed the very complex relationship between the AHS vectors and livestock. Female Culicoides depend mostly on blood meals as a food source (de Beer, Boikanyo, Venter, & Mans, 2020;Slama, Haouas, Mezhoud, Babba, & Chaker, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Modelling High-Risk Areas for African Horse Sickness Occurrence in Mainland China Along Southeast Asia

Gao¹,

Jia²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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African horse sickness (AHS) is a transboundary and non-contagious arboviral infectious disease of equids. Infected Culicoides biting midges can spread the African horse sickness virus, and Culicoides imicola (C.imicola) is one of the important transmission vectors. The disease has spread without any warning from the sub-Saharan Africa towards the Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, it is imperative to predict the distribution of the AHS infection risk along the Sino–Southeast Asian borders. The reported AHS outbreaks were extracted from the archive of the Food and Agriculture Organization from December 22, 2005 to September 1, 2020. The occurrence records of C.imicola were mainly obtained from published literature. Subsequently, the maximum entropy algorithm was used to model AHS and C.imicola separately and to research the relationship among bioclimate variables, land cover characterization, horse distribution density, and the prevalence of AHS infection. Finally, we combined the AHS risk prediction with the suitability map of C.imicola to model the risk areas for AHS occurrence in Mainland China. The models showed the mean area under the curve (AUC) as 0.935 and 0.910 for AHS and C.imicola, respectively. Using jackknife analysis, we determined the important factors affecting the AHS outbreak as horse distribution density, mean temperature of the wettest quarter, and precipitation of the coldest quarter. The mean temperature of coldest quarter contributed most to the occurrence of C.imicola, followed by precipitation of coldest quarter and global land cover characterization. The overlay of the AHS and C.imicola prediction map shows that the areas southwest of Hainan and southeast of Fujian are at high risk of AHS occurrence under current conditions. Furthermore, the border sectors of Yunnan and Guangxi also presented relatively high risk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Modelling High-Risk Areas for African Horse Sickness Occurrence in Mainland China Along Southeast Asia

Gao¹,

Jia²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Host identification was successful in all Culicoides females at stages 2–3, but it also worked, although at a lower efficiency, in specimens showing an advanced degree of blood digestion (stages 4–6) and in gravid Culicoides (stage 7). A South African study recovered host DNA from 19% of parous and 26% of gravid Culicoides specimens [ 58 ], supporting the value of analyzing all abdomens to assess host preferences. This is important because fully engorged females are rarely trapped by light-suction traps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Culicoides species community composition and feeding preferences in two aquatic ecosystems in northern Spain

et al. 2022

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Background Aquatic ecosystems provide breeding sites for blood-sucking insects such as Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), but factors affecting their distribution and host choice are poorly understood. A study was undertaken at two nature reserves in northern Spain to examine the abundance, species composition, population dynamics and feeding patterns of biting midges between 2018 and 2019. Methods Culicoides were captured by light suction traps baited with CO2 and by sweep netting vegetation. Blood meals and species identification of blood-fed specimens were determined using cytochrome c oxidase I subunit (COI) DNA barcoding. Multivariate generalized linear models were used to evaluate the associations between the abundance of Culicoides, the species richness and other parameters. Results The 4973 identified specimens comprised 28 species of Culicoides. These included two species reported for the first time in northern Spain, thus raising to 54 the number of Culicoides species described in the region. Specimens of all 28 species and 99.6% of the total specimens collected were caught in suction traps, while sweep netting vegetation revealed just 11 species and 0.4% of the total specimens. Midge abundance peaked in June/early July, with five species comprising > 80% of the captures: Culicoides alazanicus (24.9%), Culicoides griseidorsum (20.3%), Culicoides poperinghensis (16.2%), Culicoides kibunensis (10.7%) and Culicoides clastrieri (9.6%). DNA barcode analysis of blood meals from eight Culicoides species revealed that they fed on 17 vertebrate species (3 mammals and 14 birds). Species in the subgenus Avaritia were primarily ornithophilic, except for C. griseidorsum and C. poperinghensis. Host DNA from blood meals was successfully amplified from 75% of blood-fed females. A pictorial blood meal digestion scale is provided to accurately assess the blood-fed status of female Culicoides. Conclusions The large number of different blood meal sources identified in the midges captured in this study signals the likely importance of wild birds and mammals (e.g. red deer and wild boar) as reservoir/amplifying hosts for pathogens. Available hosts are more exposed to being bitten by biting midge populations in aquatic ecosystems in late spring and early summer.

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“…Screened unidentified midges were subjected to non‐destructive DNA isolation (Harrup, 2018). Isolated blood DNA was identified using primers targeting 16S rRNA (Kitano et al, 2007) and CytB (Riddin et al, 2019) gene fragment. Host blood DNA samples were initially screened using avian‐ and mammal‐specific primers; further unamplified samples were tested using universal vertebrate primers.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, feeding preferences of Culicoides have been classified as a mammalophilic, ornithophilic or opportunistic (Martínez-de la Puente et al, 2015;Riddin et al, 2019) and host selection is the key determinant of the intensity at which pathogens are transmitted (Snyman et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Blood meal sources of disease vectors indicate the host preference (Martínez‐de la Puente et al, 2015; Snyman et al, 2021; Videvall et al, 2013), probable reservoir or cycling hosts and also contribute towards vector control and disease distribution (Slama et al, 2015). Generally, feeding preferences of Culicoides have been classified as a mammalophilic, ornithophilic or opportunistic (Martínez‐de la Puente et al, 2015; Riddin et al, 2019) and host selection is the key determinant of the intensity at which pathogens are transmitted (Snyman et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Blood meal analysis of Culicoides species associated with livestock in West Bengal, India

Kar

Mondal

Pal

et al. 2022

Medical Vet Entomology

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Knowledge gaps exist on the feeding pattern and host range of bluetongue virus vectors, Culicoides species, associated with livestock in India. Adult midges were trapped with ultraviolet light traps at 13 household farms adjacent to human biotope. Host DNA was isolated from individual females (n = 101; blood engorged‐82, gravid‐4 and parous‐15) and subjected to PCR amplification targeting CytB and 16S rRNA gene fragments followed by sequencing of amplified DNA samples. However, DNA sequences from only 71 individuals (70.3%) comprising of 10 Culicoides species were obtained. Blood meal analysis revealed at least 10 species that fed on five mammalian hosts including humans, but surprisingly none tested positive for birds. Results revealed that Culicoides innoxius tested positive for four not previously recognized species indicating a potential role as a vector species. Likewise, Culicoides shortti and Culicoides hegneri preferred goat and cattle respectively as hosts, whereas Culicoides palpifer preferred cattle along with buffalo as hosts, which is being reported for the first time. This is the first document on DNA‐based blood meal identification and feeding preference of Culicoides midges associated with livestock in India.

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Bloodmeal analysis in Culicoides midges collected near horses, donkeys and zebras in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Cited by 10 publications

References 38 publications

Modelling High-Risk Areas for African Horse Sickness Occurrence in Mainland China Along Southeast Asia

Modelling High-Risk Areas for African Horse Sickness Occurrence in Mainland China Along Southeast Asia

Culicoides species community composition and feeding preferences in two aquatic ecosystems in northern Spain

Blood meal analysis of Culicoides species associated with livestock in West Bengal, India

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