Emerging Infectious Diseases (Jan 2013)

Schmallenberg Virus in Culicoides spp. Biting Midges, the Netherlands, 2011

  • Armin R.W. Elbers,
  • Rudy Meiswinkel,
  • Erik van Weezep,
  • Marianne M. Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan,
  • Engbert A. Kooi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1901.121054
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 1
pp. 106 – 109

Abstract

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To determine which species of Culicoides biting midges carry Schmallenberg virus (SBV), we assayed midges collected in the Netherlands during autumn 2011. SBV RNA was found in C. scoticus, C. obsoletus sensu stricto, and C. chiopterus. The high proportion of infected midges might explain the rapid spread of SBV throughout Europe.

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