What is new about the Culicoides identification freeware?

In the framework of Medreonet workpackage on "Regional surveillance of vectors", a Culicoides identification key based on morphology is proposed. This key will help to identify the different Culicoides species, including those of the Palaearctic region. The tool will be available in a freeware version and in a web version. At time of writing, the key was not yet available but a first draft version was to be presented soon after to Culicoides taxonomists so as to improve it. Currently, females of 85 species including 9 morphological variations are included in a database of 63 descriptors codified in 172 states. These descriptors and states of descriptors were discussed and validated by the participants of the last taxonomic meeting in Strasbourg, France, in March 2009. (Texte intégral

Orbiviruses in Rusa Deer, Mauritius, 2007

Bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease are caused by orbiviruses transmitted by Culicoides spp. biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). These diseases are restricted to regions where their vectors exist and seem to be expanding to previously unaffected areas. Infection of wild and domestic ruminants is common. Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes severe clinical disease in certain breeds of sheep; BTV and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) cause clinical disease in some species of deer.The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the project “Support to the harmonization of epidemiological surveillance networks for livestock diseases” (FSP project no. 2003–067).http://www.cdc.gov/eidnf201