Bluetongue epidemiology in the Caribbean region: serological and entomological findings from a pilot sentinel system in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

When monitored by the agar gel immunodiffusion test for antibody to bluetongue viruses, a sentinel flock of twenty-five lambs remained seropositive through the year, whereas in a sentinel herd of twenty calves only two individuals seroconverted and these became negative again within 2 months. A light trap operated with the calf herd yielded high numbers of Culicoides insignis Lutz (over 18,000 per trap night) along with C. filariferus Hoffman, C. pusillus Lutz, C. leopoldi Ortiz, C. foxi Ortiz, C. limai Barretto, C. diabolicus Hoffman and C. guyanensis Floch and Abonnenc. Culicoides were trapped at the sheep station which had housed the lambs 3 years following the sentinel study. No virus was isolated from pools of C. insignis, C. filariferus and C. pusillus. Six other species were collected in insufficient numbers to warrant attempted virus isolations.

Bluetongue virus infection in naïve cattle: Identification of circulating serotypes and associated Culicoides biting midge species in Trinidad

“…This is the first report of BTV-2 and BTV-5 circulating in TTO, as these serotypes were not detected in studies carried out in the Caribbean around 20–25 years ago ( Greiner et al, 1989 , Thompson et al, 1992 , Mo et al, 1994 , Legisa et al, 2014 ). BTV-2 is however considered to be endemic in southeastern USA, particularly in Florida ( APHIS/USDA, 2016 ), while BTV-5 has been isolated in cattle in the southeastern USA in 1998 ( Johnson, 2011 ), and has also been isolated in Guadeloupe ( Legisa et al, 2014 ).…”

“…The predominant Culicoides species collected near the cattle under study was C. insignis , which is considered the principal BTV vector in the Caribbean ( Walton, 2004 , Mo et al, 1994 , Tanya et al, 1992 , Greiner et al, 1989 ). Its high abundance in an area with active BTV transmission implicates it as a potentially significant vector of BTV in Trinidad.…”

Bluetongue virus in South America, Central America and the Caribbean

“…From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, BTV was detected in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, French Martinique Island, French Guadeloupe Island and Dominican Republic (MacLachlan et al, 2007;Mo et al, 1994;Walton and Osburn, 1992). In this region, serotypes 1, 3,4,6,8,11,12,14 and 17 were detected by serotype specific antibodies and serotypes 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 17 by virus isolation (Mo et al, 1994;Gibbs et al, 1992Gibbs et al, , 1983Greiner et al, 1989Greiner et al, , 1993Gumm et al, 1984;Homan et al, 1990). In 1981, Metcalf et al (1981) detected almost 80% of prevalence in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.…”

Bluetongue epidemiology in the Caribbean region: serological and entomological evidence from a pilot study in Barbados

“…Homan et al (1985) aspirated it from cattle in Colombia. It has been the numerically dominant species in collections made near ruminants in Puerto Rico, St Croix and Barbados (Greiner et al, 1984), Jamaica (Greiner & Rawlins, 1987), Trinidad and Tobago (Greiner et al, 1989) and Florida (Kramer et al, 1985). Culicoides insignis was the most wmmon species overall collected during the present study in Barbados as well.…”

“…and 17 existed in livestock in the Caribbean (Gumm et al, 1984). Insect collections made on St Croix, Puerto Rico and Barbados (Greiner et al, 1984), Jamaica (Greiner & Rawlins, 1987) and Trinidad and Tobago (Greiner et al, 1989) showed that the two main livestock associated species of biting midges were present: Culicoides insignis Lutz and C.pusillus Lutz. The Barbados data in Greiner et at.…”