First report of 13 Species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in mainland Portugal and Azores by morphological and molecular characterization

Ramilo, D.W., Diaz, S., Pereira da Fonseca, I., Delécolle, J.-C., Wilson, A., Meireles, J., Lucientes, J., Ribeiro, R. and Boinas, F. (2012) First report of 13 Species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in mainland Portugal and Azores by morphological and molecular characterization. PLoS ONE, 7(4), e34896. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034896) (PMID:22536340) (PMCID:PMC3334969)

Abstract

The genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) contains important vectors of animal and human diseases, including bluetongue, African horse sickness and filariosis. A major outbreak of bluetongue occurred in mainland Portugal in 2004, forty eight years after the last recorded case. A national Entomological Surveillance Plan was initiated in mainland Portugal, Azores and the Madeira archipelagos in 2005 in order to better understand the disease and facilitate policy decisions. During the survey, the most prevalent Culicoides species in mainland Portugal was C. imicola (75.3%) and species belonging to the Obsoletus group (6.5%). The latter were the most prevalent in Azores archipelago, accounting for 96.7% of the total species identified. The Obsoletus group was further characterized by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction to species level showing that only two species of this group were present: C. obsoletus sensu strictu (69.6%) and C. scoticus (30.4%). Nine species of Culicoides were detected for the first time in mainland Portugal: C. alazanicus, C. bahrainensis, C. deltus, C. lupicaris, C. picturatus, C. santonicus, C. semimaculatus, C. simulator and C. subfagineus. In the Azores, C. newsteadi and C. circumscriptus were identified for the first time from some islands, and bluetongue vectors belonging to the Obsoletus group (C. obsoletus and C. scoticus) were found to be widespread.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Sources of funding include Direcção-Geral de Veterinária of Portugal and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Technical University of Lisbon. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cardoso Ribeiro, Dr Rita Claudia
• Authors: Ramilo, D.W., Diaz, S., Pereira da Fonseca, I., Delécolle, J.-C., Wilson, A., Meireles, J., Lucientes, J., Ribeiro, R., and Boinas, F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 Ramilo et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 7(4):e34896
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license

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