Rapid and efficient detection by PCR of Culicoides insignis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), the main vector of Bluetongue Virus (BTV) in the Neotropical Region

AYALA MM; DIAZ, F; MICIELI MV; SPINELLI GR; RONDEROS MM

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC AMER

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2022 vol. 59 p. 1211 - 1216

0022-2585

Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes a viral, non-contagious disease that mainly affects sheep, cattle, and wild and farmed ruminants causing damage to these animals and significant economic losses. Culicoides insignis Lutz, the major BTV vector in South America, is one of the most abundant species in Argentina and commonly associated with cattle farms. The morphological identification of Culicoides spp. is routinely carried out with the aid of morphological keys, which mainly refer to the wing patterns, sensillae of palpi, and antennal flagella. Molecular tools applied to taxonomy provide a rapid and efficient method of iden¬tification of vector species. An easy protocol for the extraction of total DNA from single midges is herein described, and a forward primer for rapid and reliably test detection by polymerase chain reaction of C. insignis is developed.