Bluetongue: an emerging vector-borne disease outbreak in Northwestern Europe
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The animal vector-borne disease bluetongue (BT) was discovered in the Netherlands and neighbouring areas of Belgium, France, Germany and Luxemburg for the first time in August 2006. The BT virus was identified as serotype 8. This serotype had never before been found in Europe. Vector surveillance in the outbreak area revealed nine different potential vector species, with >90% belonging to the Culicoides obsoletus and C. pulicaris group of midges. BT virus was found in C. dewulfi, a member of the C. obsoletus group. Following a winter period free of reported cases in the affected areas, renewed outbreaks were reported on 17 July 2007, indicating that the virus had survived undetected throughout the winter of 2006/2007. It is argued that the introduced BT virus may have benefited from the unusually high temperatures in July 2006 in northwestern Europe, and that climate, vectors and virus conspired to cause a major epidemic in farm animals. Aspects of this outbreak are discussed, with relevance to the origin of the serotype, the vector ecology and competence, the climate, and the route of introduction.