Swine farm infestation with <i>Culicoides</i> species (biting midges) in Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Collection of biting midges within a piggery farm using black-light suction traps revealed the presence of diverse species of Culicoides. Out of a total of one thousand four hundred and five (1,405) midges caught, one thousand three hundred and sixty-six (1,366) were identified as species in the genus Culicoides while the remaining thirtynine (39) were unidentified members in the family Ceratopogonidae. The identified Culicoides were further classified into eight species based on their morphological characteristics as C. imicola, C. pycnostictus, C. oxystoma, C. milnei, C. subschultzei, C. enderleini, C. nevilli and C. krameri. There was dominance of females (93.67%) over the males (6.33 %) from the total collection. The presence of Culicoides species infesting pigs was established and the identified Culicoides species were incriminated to be mammophilic in feeding. Recommendation is made to determine the blood meal source and possibility of disease transmission.

Two Rare Cases of Bi-Abdomen and a Polar Gynandromorphismin ‎Culicoides (Biting Midges) from Makurdi, Nigeria

“…Both the dorsal and ventral abdominal structures revealed evidence of functionality due to presence of functional spermathecae (three each on the dorsal and ventral abdominal segments for the Culicoides oxystoma specimen (total six) and two functional spermathecae for the C imicola sample. A comparison was made between the gynander and a typical male and female specimen of the same species reported by Oke et al (2016 and2017). It was observed that the gynander has combined characteristics typical of both male and female.…”

An expert opinion assessment of blood‐feeding arthropods based on their capacity to transmit African swine fever virus in Metropolitan France

“…Culicoides and Tabanidae also need to be considered. Culicoides, ranked fourth in the expert elicitation, have been shown to be able to feed on pigs (Bartsch, Bauer, Wiemann, Clausen, & Steuber, 2009) and are known to be present in pig farms (Kirkeby, Bodker, Stockmarr, Lind, & Heegaard, 2013;Oke, Oke, & Adejinmi, 2017;Zimmer et al, 2008 Perie, Chermette, Millemann, & Zientara, 2005), so that a blood meal on a host with low viremia might probably not result in the ingestion of a sufficient dose of virus to initiate replication and spread of the virus in the vector. In case of massive Culicoides infestations, they may also play a role in the mechanical transmission of ASFV.…”

“…Although having a slightly lower median score in the ranking, Culicoides and Tabanidae also need to be considered. Culicoides , ranked fourth in the expert elicitation, have been shown to be able to feed on pigs (Bartsch, Bauer, Wiemann, Clausen, & Steuber, 2009) and are known to be present in pig farms (Kirkeby, Bodker, Stockmarr, Lind, & Heegaard, 2013; Oke, Oke, & Adejinmi, 2017; Zimmer et al, 2008). Assuming that Culicoides are competent vectors for ASFV, it is mainly their high abundance that would contribute to their vectorial capacity.…”