Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41863060›Full record

ArticleMedical and veterinary entomology2026

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) feeding on donkeys in the United Kingdom, with reference to the risk of transmission and persistence of African horse sickness virus.

Zoe Langlands, Simon Gubbins, Simon Carpenter, Marion England

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical and veterinary entomology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Zoe LanglandsThe Pirbright Institute, Surrey, UK.
Simon GubbinsThe Pirbright Institute, Surrey, UK.
Simon CarpenterThe Pirbright Institute, Surrey, UK.
Marion EnglandThe Pirbright Institute, Surrey, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2224-9555

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK GovernmentUK Research and Innovation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

African horse sickness virus (AHSV: Sedoreoviridae; Orbivirus) causes a severe and often fatal disease in horses (African horse sickness: AHS) and is transmitted almost exclusively by Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). In recent years, unprecedented outbreaks of AHSV have occurred in new geographical foci in Thailand and other related Culicoides-borne viruses continue to emerge unexpectedly, causing disease outbreaks in northern Europe. This study investigated Culicoides abundance and diversity at a donkey (Equus asinus) sanctuary in southern England. The incidence and severity of AHS in infected donkeys are lower than in horses, with concerns, therefore, that these species could act as potential reservoirs in the event of an incursion of AHSV. A total of 21,350 Culicoides of 20 species were collected over 14 nights during spring and summer 2019 using three Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute ultraviolet light-suction traps. The most abundant species were identified within the subgenus Avaritia (19,574; 91.7%), which are known vectors of other Orbiviruses in northern Europe and have been previously identified as putative vectors of AHSV in southern Europe. Furthermore, Culicoides blood-feeding on donkeys was confirmed for the subgenus Avaritia through polymerase chain reaction of blood-fed female Culicoides using a 685 bp region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene. Data on the size and distribution of the donkey population and the potential impact of infection with AHSV on donkeys within the United Kingdom are scarce. This study demonstrates that large populations of Culicoides can exist near these hosts and that they regularly take blood meals from them. There is a potential risk that donkeys could play a significant role in transmission and persistence of AHSV in the event of an incursion into the United Kingdom, which could complicate disease control.

Indexed as

African Horse SicknessAfrican Horse Sickness VirusCeratopogonidaeEquidaeInsect VectorsAnimalsEnglandFemaleUnited KingdomAfrican horse sickness virusCeratopogonidaeCulicoidesdonkeyOrbivirus

Identifiers

PMID41863060
PMCPMC13436529

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.