Determination of Culicoides species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as suspect vectors of Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease and Blue-tongue viruses in southern and western Anatolia by RT-PCR.

The article discusses a study to determine the presence of Bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) genomes in blood-sucking flies that belong to the Culicoides species gathered from western and southern Anatolia. It offers information on the use of Onderstepoort traps to catch the insects and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to detect the genomes. It examines the absence of the BTV genome in the specimens collected, in addition to the detection of EHDV in nine species which include the C. imicola, C. gejgelensis and C. obsoletus.