کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
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5803868 | 1555692 | 2014 | 6 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
Horse flies can mechanically transmit Besnoitia besnoiti, the agent of bovine besnoitiosis. Although previously limited to enzootic areas, especially the French Pyrenees Mountains, bovine besnoitiosis is now considered a re-emerging disease in western Europe. To improve understanding of the role of horse flies as mechanical vectors, this study investigated their blood-feeding ecology in the eastern French Pyrenees, in two high-altitude summer pastures whose main domestic ungulates were cattle, and in a wildlife park with native fauna. Species-specific PCR assays were conducted to identify the sources of blood meals: wild boar, horse, cattle (or bison), sheep (or mouflon), goat, red deer, roe deer and izard (or Pyrenean chamois). In La Mouline pasture, tabanids (NÂ =Â 20) fed on red deer (70%) and cattle (30%). In Mantet pasture, tabanids (NÂ =Â 24) fed on cattle (52%), red deer (20%), wild boar (16%), horse (8%) and sheep (4%). In the wildlife park, Tabanus bromius (NÂ =Â 32), the most abundant species collected, fed on red deer (85%), bison (9%) and wild boar (6%). Despite relatively high densities in both the pastures and in the wildlife park, small wild ungulates (izard, mouflon and roe deer) were not detected as a source of blood meals. Only two mixed blood meals were identified in two specimens of T. bromius: cattle/horse for the specimen collected in the pastures, and bison/wild boar for the specimen collected in the wildlife park. Our findings showed that tabanids display a level of opportunistic feeding behaviour, in addition to a preference for red deer, the latter being particularly true for Philipomyia aprica, the most abundant species collected in the pastures.
Journal: Veterinary Parasitology - Volume 199, Issues 3â4, 31 January 2014, Pages 283-288