Does covering of farm-associated Culicoides larval habitat reduce adult populations in the United Kingdom?

Harrup, L.E.; Gubbins, S.; Barber, J.; Denison, E.; Mellor, P.S.; Purse, B.V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5140-2710; Carpenter, S.. 2014 Does covering of farm-associated Culicoides larval habitat reduce adult populations in the United Kingdom? Veterinary Parasitology, 1-2. 137-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.11.028

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Abstract/Summary

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are the biological vectors of a range of internationally important arboviruses of livestock, including bluetongue virus (BTV) and the recently emerging Schmallenberg virus (SBV). Culicoides species in the subgenus Avaritia (inthe UK: Culicoides obsoletus Meigen, Culicoides scoticus Downes & Kettle, Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer and Culicoides chiopterus Meigen) have been implicated in BTV transmissionin northern Europe and to a varying degree utilise cattle dung as a larval development substrate. The collection of cattle dung into heaps on farms provides a localised sourceof Culicoides emergence in close proximity to livestock. This study assesses the impact of covering dung heaps prior to the onset of adult Culicoides activity with the aim of reducing recruitment to the local adult populations at four livestock farms in England. Light suctiontrap catches of adult Culicoides from these farms were compared with those from four untreated control farms from a wide geographic range across the UK. It was demonstrated that implementing control of emergence from dung heaps did not have a significant impactupon the local adult subgenus Avaritia abundance at the treated farm holdings and thatthe onset of Culicoides activity was similarly unaffected. Use of this method in isolation isunlikely to have an effect in reducing the risk of BTV and SBV transmission. The implicationsof these results for control of farm-associated Culicoides in Europe are discussed.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.11.028
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Reynard
ISSN:	0304-4017
Date made live:	14 Mar 2019 16:22 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507034

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.11.028

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Reynard

ISSN:

0304-4017

Date made live:

14 Mar 2019 16:22 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507034