title: Isolation of bluetongue and related viruses from Culicoides spp. in the Sudan.
abstract: Infection of domestic ruminants with bluetongue virus (BTV) is widespread in the Sudan but there are no records of vector species of Culicoides in that country. Therefore, light-trap collections of Culicoides for virus isolation procedures were made in the Khartoum and Um Benein areas of the Sudan during September-October 1982. Two virus isolates were made from pools of unengorged, female Culicoides. An isolate from a pool of C. kingi (schultzei gp) is a member of the Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease (EHD) serogroup. The other isolate from a pool of C. imicola, a known BTV vector in other parts of Africa, is type-5 BTV. In laboratory experiments, the North American vector of BTV, C. variipennis, supported replication of both Sudanese isolates to a high titre and transmission occurred after 10 days' incubation. This paper records the first isolation in the Sudan of arboviruses from Culicoides, with the identification of a BTV serotype and the presence of a member of the EHD (genus orbivirus, family Reoviridae) serogroup.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002460:Cell Line; D002519:Ceratopogonidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D006224:Cricetinae; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007668:Kidney; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012087:Reoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013397:Sudan