Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-05T02:34:17.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blood feeding of Culicoides (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) in Kenya in relation to the epidemiology of bluetongue and ephemeral fever

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. R. Walker  and
P. F. L. Boreham
A. R. Walker*
Affiliation:
Veterinary Research Laboratory, P.O. Kabete, Kenya
P. F. L. Boreham*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Applied Entomology, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London SW7 2AZ, England
*
* All communications and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr P. F. L. Boreham, Imperial College Field Station, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, England.
* All communications and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr P. F. L. Boreham, Imperial College Field Station, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, England.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Engorged Culicoides specimens were collected in light-traps from 16 sites in Kenya. The precipitin test was used to identify the blood-meal source of 682 specimens of 21 species over a period of five years. Culicoides pallidipennis C, I. & M. and C. schultzei (End.) were shown to feed mainly on cattle and to a lesser extent on sheep, and thus could be involved in the transmission of bluetongue virus. C. cornutus De Meillon, C. milnei Aust. and C. zuluensis De Meillon are probably not common enough as feeders on cattle and sheep to play more than an incidental role as vectors of bluetongue. C. schultzei is probably also important in the transmission of ephemeral fever. No groups of vertebrates other than Bovidae were implicated as virus reservoirs.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , March 1976 , pp. 181 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boreham, P. F. L. (1972). Serological identification of arthropod bloodmeals and its application.—PANS 18, 205–209.Google Scholar
Braverman, Y., Boreham, P. F. L. & Galun, R. (1971). The origin of blood meals of female Culicoides pallidipennis trapped in a sheepfold in Israel.—J. med. Entomol. 8, 379–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornet, M., Nevill, E. M. & Walker, A. R. (1974). Note sur les Culicoides (Ceratopogo-nidae, Diptera) du groupe de C.milnei Austen 1909, en Afrique orientale et australe.—Cah. ORSTOM sér Ent. med. Parasit. 12, 231–243.Google Scholar
Davies, F. G. & Walker, A. R. (1974a). The distribution in Kenya of bluetongue virus and antibody, and the Culicoides vector.—J. Hyg., Camb. 72, 265–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, F. G. & Walker, A. R. (1974b). The isolation of ephemeral fever virus from cattle and Culicoides midges in Kenya.—Vet. Rec. 95, 63–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, F. G., Shaw, T. & Ochieng, P. (1975). Observations on the epidemiology of ephemeral fever in Kenya.—J. Hyg., Camb. 75, 231–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Du Toit, R.M. (1962). Bluetongue—recent advances in research. The role played by bovines in the transmission of bluetongue in sheep. Preliminary communication.—Jl S. Afr. vet. med. Ass. 33, 483–490.Google Scholar
Dyce, A. L. (1969). The recognition of nulliparous and parous Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopo-gonidae) without dissection.—J. Aust. ent. Soc. 8, 11–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hess, A. D., Hayes, R. O. & Tempelis, C. H. (1968). The use of the forage ratio technique in mosquito host preference studies.—Mosquito News 28, 386–389.Google Scholar
Kangwagye, T. N. (1973). Diurnal and nocturnal biting activity of flies (Diptera) in western Uganda.—Bull. ent. Res. 63, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khamala, C. P. M. (1971). Ecological distribution of East African Culicoides Latreille (Dipt., Ceratopogonidae) as shown by light-traps.—Bull. ent. Res. 60, 549–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khamala, C. P. M. & Kettle, D. S. (1971). The Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of East Africa.—Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 123, 1–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neitz, W. O. (1965). A check-list and host-list of the zoonoses occurring in mammals and birds in South and South West Africa.—Onderstepoort J. vet. Res. 32, 189–376.Google ScholarPubMed
Neville, E. M. & Anderson, D. (1972). Host preferences of Culicoides midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in South Africa as determined by precipitin tests and light trap catches.—Onderstepoort J. vet. Res. 39, 147–152.Google Scholar
Owen, N.C, Du Toit, R. M. & Howell, P. G. (1965). Bluetongue in cattle: typing of viruses isolated from cattle exposed to natural infection.—Onderstepoort J. vet. Res. 32, 3–6.Google Scholar
Service, M. W. (1970). A battery-operated light-trap for sampling mosquito populations.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 43, 635–641.Google ScholarPubMed
Walker, A. R. & Davies, F. G. (1971). A preliminary survey of the epidemiology of blue-tongue in Kenya.—J. Hyg., Camb. 69, 47–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weitz, B. (1956). Identification of bloodmeals of blood-sucking arthropods.—Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 15, 473–490.Google Scholar