Helge Kampen

We experimentally infected laboratory-reared Culicoides sonorensis biting midges with bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes 3 and 8 using virus-containing blood meal and found slightly higher replication rates of BTV-3.

This study investigates the role of non-structural proteins NSs and NSm in Schmallenberg virus infection of Culicoides sonorensis midges, finding that their absence does not affect infection rates, but a fetal-derived variant fails to replicate in midges.

Bluetongue virus serotype 3 was detected in Culicoides biting midges in Germany in October 2023, coinciding with its emergence in ruminants and the presence of Schmallenberg virus in midge pools.

The paper develops a multiplex PCR test using COI gene data to identify biting midge species and clades, achieving high sensitivity for Culicoides subgenus Avaritia.