Range expansion of the Bluetongue vector, Culicoides imicola, in continental France likely due to rare wind-transport events.

ABSTRACT: The role of the northward expansion of Culicoides imicola Kieffer in recent and unprecedented outbreaks of Culicoides-borne arboviruses in southern Europe has been a significant point of contention. We combined entomological surveys, movement simulations of air-borne particles, and population genetics to reconstruct the chain of events that led to a newly colonized French area nestled at the northern foot of the Pyrenees. Simulating the movement of air-borne particles evidenced frequent wind-transport events allowing, within at most 36 hours, the immigration of midges from north-eastern Spain and Balearic Islands, and, as rare events, their immigration from Corsica. Completing the puzzle, population genetic analyses discriminated Corsica as the origin of the new population and identified t

SUBMITTER: Jacquet S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4893744 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature