No evidence for the persistence of Schmallenberg virus in overwintering mosquitoes |
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| Authors: | E J SCHOLTE M H MARS M BRAKS W DEN HARTOG A IBAÑEZ‐JUSTICIA M KOOPMANS C J M KOENRAADT A DE VRIES C REUSKEN |
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| Institution: | 1. Dutch National Centre for Monitoring of Vectors (CMV), Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), , Wageningen, The Netherlands;2. Animal Health Service (GD), , Deventer, The Netherlands;3. Centre for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), , Bilthoven, The Netherlands;4. Centre for Infectious Disease Research, Diagnostics and Screening, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), , Bilthoven, The Netherlands;5. Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University and Research (WUR), , Wageningen, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | In 2011, Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a novel member of the Simbu serogroup, genus Orthobunyavirus, was identified as the causative agent of a disease in ruminants in Europe. Based on the current knowledge on arthropods involved in the transmission of Simbu group viruses, a role of both midges and mosquitoes in the SBV transmission cycle cannot be excluded beforehand. The persistence of SBV in mosquitoes overwintering at SBV‐affected farms in the Netherlands was investigated. No evidence for the presence of SBV in 868 hibernating mosquitoes (Culex, Anopheles, and Culiseta spp., collected from January to March 2012) was found. This suggests that mosquitoes do not play an important role, if any, in the persistence of SBV during the winter months in northwestern Europe. |
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| Keywords: | Mosquito overwintering schmallenberg virus vector |
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