Role of Dipteran vectors on interepidemic maintenance and emergence of vesicular stomatitis virus

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

2:20 PM – 2:35 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 215/216

Presenting Author(s)

Barbara S. Drolet (she/her/hers)

Research Microbiologist
USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas

Co-Author(s)

Paula Rozo Lopez

Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Tennessee
Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Co-author(s)

Bethany McGregor

Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas
TD

Travis M. Davis

USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas
WR

Will K. Reeves

USDA-APHIS
Fort Collins, Colorado
KB

Kristine E. Bennett

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
SP

Steven J. Pauszek

USDA-APHIS
Orient Point, New York
MB

Miranda R. Bertram

USDA-ARS
Orient Point, New York
LR

Luis Rodriguez

USDA-ARS
Niantic, Connecticut

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a reportable, insect-transmitted, viral disease affecting horses, cattle, and pigs in the Americas. Outbreaks in the U.S. typically occur in western and southwestern states on a 5–10-year cycle. Outbreaks can be single or multiple year events with an overwintering genotype of the virus emerging 6-8 months after the last clinical disease is seen in animals. How and where vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is maintained between outbreaks and what vector species are involved in re-emergence are not clearly understood. Recent venereal transmission studies in Culicoides and the finding of VSV-positive nulliparous field-caught midges suggest virus may be maintained in insect populations in the absence of infected animals. Additionally, recent genetic analysis of field-caught insects near clinical animals at the start of the 2006 and 2020 outbreaks indicate that Culicoides midges and Simulium black flies may play an important role in the emergence of VSV. These results improve our understanding of the role midges and black flies play in VSV epidemiology in the U.S. and broadens the scope of vector species for targeted surveillance and control.