Changes of the abundance of Culicoides obsoletus s.s. and Culicoides scoticus in Southwest Germany identified by a PCR-based differentiation

Balczun, Carsten; Vorsprach, Bettina; Meiser, Christian Karl; Schaub, Giinter A.

doi:10.1007/s00436-009-1412-2

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The detailed results of the monitoring in the different German regions are presented in the ten papers following this introducing overview in the present volume of the journal Kiehl et al 2009;Vorsprach et al 2009;Balczun et al 2009;Kiel et al 2009; Clausen Bartsch et al 2009;Stephan et al 2009;Bauer et al 2009;Hörbrand and Geier 2009). However, the common features can be summarized as follows:…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The 10 papers following this introducing overview in the present volume of the journal Vorsprach et al 2009;Balczun et al 2009;Kiel et al 2009;Kiehl et al 2009;Bartsch et al 2009;Clausen et al 2009;Stephan et al 2009;Bauer et al 2009;Hörbrand and Geier 2009) describe the results obtained during this monitoring program, which ran from the end of March 2007 until the end of May 2008.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Evaluating these main results of the entomological monitoring and the fact that many wild ruminants have also been infected with BTV, it becomes evident that bluetongue disease has become endemic in Central Europe, and that only constant effort including vaccination and perhaps also insecticidal protection of cattle and sheep will keep the economical losses at a reasonable level. The following papers (1-10) in this journal will contribute more details obtained from this worldwide unique entomological monitoring: Bartsch et al 2009;Bauer et al 2009;Clausen et al 2009;Hörbrand and Geier 2009;Kiehl et al 2009;Mehlhorn et al 2009;Kiel et al 2009;Vorsprach et al 2009;Balczun et al 2009.…”

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confidence: 98%

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Bluetongue disease in Germany (2007–2008): monitoring of entomological aspects

et al. 2009

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In the summer of 2006, a bluetongue epidemic started in the border area of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany, spread within 2 years over large areas of Western and Central Europe, and caused substantial losses in farm ruminants. Especially sheep and cattle were severely affected, leading to a case-fatality ratio of nearly 40% in sheep (Conraths et al., Emerg Inf Dis 15(3):433-435, 2009). The German federal ministry of food, agriculture, and consumer protection (BMELV) established a countrywide monitoring on the occurrence of the vectors of this virus, i.e., midges (family Ceratopogonidae) of the genus Culicoides. The monitoring was done on 91 sites, most of which were localized in the 150-km restriction zone that existed in December 2006. A grid consisting of 45 x 45 km(2) cells was formed that covered the monitoring area. As a rule, one trap was placed into each grid cell. The monitoring program started at the end of March 2007 and lasted until May 2008. It included the catching of midges by ultraviolet light traps-done each month from days 1 until 8, the selection of midges of the Culicoides obsoletus, Culicoides pulicaris group, and other Culicoides spp., the testing of midges for bluetongue virus (BTV) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the daily registration of weather data at each trap site for the whole monitoring period. The following main results were obtained: (1) Members of the C. obsoletus group were most commonly found in the traps, reaching often 3/4 of the catches. The African and South European vector of BTV-the species Culicoides imicola-was never found. (2) Members of the C. obsoletus group were most frequently found infected with BTV besides a few cases in the C. pulicaris group and other species. (3) Members of the C. obsoletus group were also found in winter. Their numbers were reduced, however, and they were caught mostly close to stables. Therefore, a true midge-free period does not exist during the year in Germany. (4) The amounts of midges caught daily depended on the weather conditions. If it was cold and/or windy, the traps contained only a few specimens. Since the months from January to May 2008 were considerably colder (at all farms) than their correspondents in 2007, the growing of the population of midges started 2-3 months later in 2008 than in 2007. (5) The highest populations of midges occurred in both years (2007 and 2008) during the months September and October. This corresponded significantly to the finding of highest numbers of infected midges and to the number of diseased cattle and sheep during these 2 months. (6) It is noteworthy that in general, the first virus-positive midges of the species C. obsoletus were found about 1 1/2 months later than the first clinical cases had occurred or later than the first PCR-proven virus-positive sentinel animals had been documented. In 2007, the first BTV-positive cattle were detected in May in North Rhine-Westphalia, while the first positive Culicoides specimens were only found in August on the same farm. Evaluating these main...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

mentioning

confidence: 98%

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Bluetongue disease in Germany (2007–2008): monitoring of entomological aspects

et al. 2009

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“…Moreover, these two groups are the most abundant in the collections made by UV traps in farm environments. Specimens from the C. obsoletus group are generally more abundant than specimens from the C. pulicaris group Kiel et al 2009;Balczun et al 2009;Vorsprach et al 2009;Horbrand and Geier 2009;Nielsen et al 2010). Still, we lack of information on the biology, especially host preferences, of these species and on the possible vectors of minor importance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Contribution to the knowledge of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) host preferences in France

Ninio

Augot

Delécolle³

et al. 2010

Parasitol Res

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Knowledge on host-feeding pattern of blood-sucking insects helps to understand the epidemiology of a vector-born disease. We determined blood meal origin from blood-fed Culicoides thanks to molecular techniques. A set of primers was used to selectively amplify segment of vertebrates' prepronociceptin gene from abdomen of engorged Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Vertebrate DNA was successfully amplified in 91% of blood-fed Culicoides assayed. Direct sequencing and comparison of resultant sequences with sequences in GenBank, using BLAST, lead to the specific identification of the host in 100% of the cases. A total of 157 blood-fed females belonging to 13 different Culicoides' species were captured thanks to light traps in different areas of France between 2008 and 2009. Blood meal origin was determined for 143 blood-fed midges: 59 Culicoides obsoletus, 18 Culicoides dewulfi, 16 Culicoides scoticus, 11 Culicoides chiopterus, 10 Culicoides lupicaris, 1 Culicoides pulicaris, 8 Culicoides punctatus, 10 Culicoides pallidicornis, 3 Culicoides achrayi, 2 Culicoides furcillatus, 3 Culicoides brunnicans, 1 Culicoides picturatus and 1 Culicoides poperinghensis. The predominant species in our study belong to the C. obsoletus complex; they are considered as putative vectors of Bluetongue virus in the north of Europe. C. chiopterus sampled fed only on cattle, while blood meal origin of C. dewulfi, C. obsoletus and C. scoticus was diversified. In our sampling, we found that midges were fed mainly on cattle (54%), rabbits (20%), horses (17%), sheep (4%), pigs or wild boars (4%) and human (1%). Cattle DNA was found in at least 11 different species of Culicoides assayed.

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“…The scarcity of data on Culicoides taxonomy in Western Africa also complicates identification. Several PCR-based tests were developed for the identification of Culicoides spp., and these tests target the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) or the rRNA genes, internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1) or 2 (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26).…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparison of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and Molecular Biology Techniques for Identification of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Biting Midges in Senegal

et al. 2015

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Biting midges of the genus Culicoides are implicated as vectors for a wide variety of pathogens. The morphological identification of these arthropods may be difficult because of a lack of detailed investigation of taxonomy for this species in Africa. However, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization؊time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) profiling is efficient for arthropod identification at the species level. This study established a spectrum database of Culicoides spp. from Senegal using MALDI-TOF. Identification of Culicoides insects to the species level before mass spectrometry was performed on the basis of morphological characters. MALDI-TOF MS reference spectra were determined for 437 field-caught Culicoides of 10 species. The protein profiles of all tested Culicoides revealed several peaks with mass ranges of 2 to 20 kDa. In a validation study, 72 Culicoides specimens in the target species were correctly identified at the species level with a similarity of 95 to 99.9%. Four Culicoides protein profiles were misidentified. Nevertheless, six SuperSpectra (C. imicola, C. enderleini, C. oxystoma, C. kingi, C. magnus, and C. fulvithorax) were created. Abdomens of midges were used to amplify and sequence a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI). The results obtained using the MALDI-TOF MS method were consistent with the morphological identification and similar to the genetic identification. Protein profiling using MALDI-TOF is an efficient approach for the identification of Culicoides spp., and it is economically advantageous for approaches that require detailed and quantitative information of vector species that are collected in field. The database of African Culicoides MS spectra created is the first database in Africa. The COI sequences of five Culicoides species that were previously noncharacterized using molecular methods were deposited in GenBank. Biting midges of the genus Culicoides are among the smallest hematophagous insects, and they can be a nuisance to humans and animals (1). These insects are implicated as vectors for a wide variety of viruses, such as bluetongue virus (2), African horse sickness virus (3), epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (4), the Schmallenberg virus that recently emerged in Europe (5-7), Toggenburg orbivirus (8), and the Oropouche virus (9), which is the only human virus transmitted by Culicoides. Additionally, biting midges are involved in the transmission of various human filarial parasites, such as Mansonella perstans (10-13), Mansonella streptocerca, Mansonella ozzardi, and Mansonella rodhaini (14). Recently, Leishmania spp. and Leishmania infantum were detected in Culicoides imicola and Culicoides spp. (15).Vector identification is an important step in the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases. Information on the major vector species may provide a clearer indication of the geographic distribution of the disease or its potential distribution, the location of danger points for high risks of contact with the vector, and access to alternative...

show abstract

Changes of the abundance of Culicoides obsoletus s.s. and Culicoides scoticus in Southwest Germany identified by a PCR-based differentiation

Cited by 23 publications

References 27 publications

Bluetongue disease in Germany (2007–2008): monitoring of entomological aspects

Bluetongue disease in Germany (2007–2008): monitoring of entomological aspects

Contribution to the knowledge of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) host preferences in France

Comparison of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and Molecular Biology Techniques for Identification of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Biting Midges in Senegal

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