title: Screening blood-fed mosquitoes for the diagnosis of filarioid helminths and avian malaria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both Dirofilaria repens and recently D. immitis are known to be endemic in Hungary. As one of several recent cases, the fatal case of a dog infested with D. immitis in Szeged, Southern Hungary, received attention from the media. Hence it was decided to catch mosquitoes in the garden where the dog lived to screen for filarioid helminths and Plasmodium spp. using molecular tools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mosquitoes were caught in Szeged, in the garden where the infected dog was kept, in July 2013 with M-360 electric mosquito traps and were stored in ethanol until further procedure. Female mosquitoes were classified to genus level by morphology. Each mosquito was homogenized and analyzed for filarioid helminths and avian malaria using standardized PCR techniques. Positive mosquito samples were further identified to species level by comparing a section of the mitochondrial COI gene to GenBank® entries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, 267 blood-fed mosquitoes were caught in July 2013 in Szeged. Subsequent molecular screening revealed that not only D. immitis was present in the analyzed specimens but also DNA of D. repens, Setaria tundra and Plasmodium spp. was confirmed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis of blood-fed mosquitoes for the diagnosis of Dirofilaria spp. and other mosquito-borne pathogens seems to be an adequate technique to evaluate if filarioid helminths are present in a certain area. Usually only unfed female mosquitoes are analyzed for epidemiological studies. However, blood-fed mosquitoes can only be used for screening if a pathogen is present because the role of the mosquito as vector cannot be classified (blood of bitten host). Furthermore, Setaria tundra was confirmed for the first time in Hungary.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. carina.zittra@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zittra
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary. zsaca89@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zsanett
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kocziha
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Sciences and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Szeged University, Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary. pinnyeysz@citromail.hu.
authors.forename: Szilárd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pinnyei
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. josef.harl@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. katrin.kieser@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kieser
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. a.laciny@gmx.at.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laciny
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. barbara.eigner@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eigner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. katja.silbermayr@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Silbermayr
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. georg.duscher@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Georg G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Duscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary. Fok.Eva@aotk.szie.hu.
authors.forename: Éva
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Fok
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria. hans-peter.fuehrer@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Fuehrer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004182:Dirofilaria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006814:Hungary; D008289:Malaria, Avian / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics; D017182:Setaria Nematode / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D045303:Cytochromes b