Climate change and the recent emergence of bluetongue in Europe

Bluetongue, a devastating disease of ruminants, has historically made only brief, sporadic incursions into the fringes of Europe. However, since 1998, six strains of bluetongue virus have spread across 12 countries and 800 km further north in Europe than has previously been reported. We suggest that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Microbiology 2005-02, Vol.3 (2), p.171-181
Main Authors: Purse, Bethan V, Baylis, Matthew, Mellor, Philip S, Rogers, David J, Samuel, Alan R, Mertens, Peter P. C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bluetongue - epidemiology
Bluetongue - transmission
Bluetongue - virology
Bluetongue virus
Bluetongue virus - physiology
Ceratopogonidae - virology
Climate
Climate change
Culicoides imicola
Epidemics
Europe - epidemiology
Insect Vectors - virology
Pathogens
Ruminantia
Sheep
Vectors (Biology)
Viruses
Wind
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Summary:Bluetongue, a devastating disease of ruminants, has historically made only brief, sporadic incursions into the fringes of Europe. However, since 1998, six strains of bluetongue virus have spread across 12 countries and 800 km further north in Europe than has previously been reported. We suggest that this spread has been driven by recent changes in European climate that have allowed increased virus persistence during winter, the northward expansion of Culicoides imicola, the main bluetongue virus vector, and, beyond this vector's range, transmission by indigenous European Culicoides species - thereby expanding the risk of transmission over larger geographical regions. Understanding this sequence of events may help us predict the emergence of other vector-borne pathogens.
ISSN:1740-1526
1740-1534
DOI:10.1038/nrmicro1090