background : biting midges of the genus culicoides act as vectors for important diseases affecting humans and both wild and domestic animals. collection of adult culicoides specimens in the near vicinity of vertebrate hosts is the major part of any bluetongue surveillance plan. there are old records of culicoides species dated from 1963, 1968 and 1975. therefore, it was decided to collect diffe...

detection of bluetongue virus in aborted lamb fetuses in chaharmahal va bakhtiari and isfahan provinces, by rt-pcr method background: bluetongue or muzzle sore disease is an infectious disease which is mainly transmitted by insects. it can cause erosions in mouth, nasal mucosa and limbs and also abortion in ruminants. the aim of this study was genomic detection of bluetongue virus in sheep abor...

The in vitro transcription reaction of bluetongue virus (BTV) is characterized by a core-mediated, temperature-dependent inhibition at high core concentrations and temperatures (Van Dijk & Huismans, 1980; Huismans, Van Dijk & Els, 1987a). It has been found that this inhibition is reversible and that an inactivated transcriptase reaction mixture can be reactivated by lowering the temperature of ...

Bluetongue (BT) is a reportable disease of considerable socioeconomic concern and of major importance in the international trade of animals and animal products. Before 1998, BT was considered an exotic disease in Europe. From 1998 through 2005, at least 6 BT virus strains belonging to 5 serotypes (BTV-1, BTV-2, BTV-4, BTV-9, and BTV-16) were continuously present in the Mediterranean Basin. Sinc...

The Netherlands has enjoyed a relatively free state of vector-borne diseases of economic importance for more than one century. Emerging infectious diseases may change this situation, threatening the health of humans, domestic livestock and wildlife. In order to be prepared for the potential outbreak of vector-borne diseases, a study was undertaken to investigate the distribution and seasonal dy...

Background Bluetongue is a major disease of ruminant livestock that can have a substantial impact on income and animal welfare. Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) first emerged in the European Union in 2006, peaking at 45,000 cases in 2008. Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health) licensed bluetongue vaccines (Zulvac 4 Ovis, Zulvac 1 Ovis, Zulvac 1 Bovis, Zulvac 8 Ovis and Zulvac 8 Bovis and com...