Kimron Veterinary Institute, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Kimron Veterinary Institute, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Acta Trop. 2023 Oct;246:106995. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106995. Epub 2023 Aug 6.
Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) is a significant viral disease of cattle in the tropical, subtropical, and temperate climatic zones. This disease is also known as three-day sickness due to the spontaneous recovery of the cattle within a short period (usually 3-5 days). Despite its short duration, the disease may have a considerable impact. It can cause heavy economic losses, primarily due to decreased milk production, lowered fertility in bulls, and even fatality in severe cases. The virus is suspected to be transmitted by haematophagous insects (mainly mosquitoes and Culicoides biting midges); however, the identity of a competent vector for BEFV remains a mystery. Here, we investigated whether BEFV may replicate for a short duration in Culex pipiens Linnaeus, 1758, the most prevalent mosquito species in Israel and a potential vector of this virus to Israeli cattle. We applied nested- qPCR to test BEFV abundance in Cx. pipiens every 24 h for 14 consecutive days post-infection. Additionally, we collected eggs laid by BEFV-infected females and investigated BEFV abundance in the different developmental stages of F1 mosquitos. Our results suggest that Cx. pipiens mosquitoes have the potential to act as a vector of BEFV and also indicate that BEFV may be vertically transmitted from Cx. pipiens female parent to her female offspring.
牛暂时热（BEF）是热带、亚热带和温带气候区牛的一种重要病毒性疾病。这种疾病也被称为三日病，因为牛在短时间内（通常为 3-5 天）会自发恢复。尽管持续时间很短，但这种疾病可能会造成相当大的影响。它会导致严重的经济损失，主要是因为产奶量减少、公牛生育力降低，甚至在严重情况下导致死亡。病毒被怀疑通过吸血昆虫（主要是蚊子和库蠓）传播；然而，BEFV 的有效传播媒介仍然是个谜。在这里，我们研究了 BEFV 是否可能在以色列最常见的蚊子物种库蚊（Culex pipiens Linnaeus，1758）中短暂复制，而库蚊可能是这种病毒向以色列牛传播的媒介。我们应用嵌套 qPCR 技术，在感染后 14 天内每隔 24 小时检测 Cx. pipiens 中的 BEFV 丰度。此外，我们收集了由 BEFV 感染的雌性蚊子所产的卵，并研究了 F1 蚊子不同发育阶段的 BEFV 丰度。我们的研究结果表明，库蚊蚊子有可能成为 BEFV 的传播媒介，同时也表明 BEFV 可能从库蚊雌性亲代垂直传播给她的雌性后代。
