title: Vector species of Culicoides midges implicated in the 2012‑2014 Bluetongue epidemics in Italy.
abstract: In 2012, serotypes 1 and 4 of bluetongue virus (BTV) entered and co‑circulated in Sardinia. The following year, BTV‑1 spread all over Sardinia and invaded Sicily and the Italian Tyrrenian coast. In 2014, this strain spread extensively in mainland Italy, causing severe outbreaks. In late 2014, BTV‑4 was detected in Southern Italy (Apulia region). This study reports the detection of BTV in species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) collected in Italy during the epidemics between 2012 and 2014. A total of 2,925 pools (83,102 midges), sorted from 651 collections made on 339 affected farms of 12 Italian regions, were tested for the presence of BTV by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR). The study clearly shows that Culicoides imicola and Obsoletus complex have played a crucial role in the bluetongue (BT) epidemics in Italy in 2012‑2014. Nevertheless, it also shows that other species may have played a role in transmitting BTV during these outbreaks. Culicoides dewulfi and at least 3 species of the Pulicaris complex, namely Culicoides pulicaris, Culicoides newsteadi and Culicoides punctatus, were found positive to BTV. Serotype 1 was detected in all species tested, whereas the BTV‑4 was detected in the Obsoletus complex, C. imicola, and C. newsteadi.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale', Campo Boario, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goffredo
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Catalani
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Federici
authors.forename: Ottavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Portanti
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quaglia
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santilli
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teodori
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Savini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001819:Bluetongue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002519:Ceratopogonidae / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D058872:Epidemics; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D012756:Sheep; D013997:Time Factors