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Review
. 2018 Feb 23;15(2):389.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph15020389.

The Role of Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) in Virus Transmission in Europe

Victor A Brugman  1   2 , Luis M Hernández-Triana  3 , Jolyon M Medlock  4   5 , Anthony R Fooks  6   7 , Simon Carpenter  8 , Nicholas Johnson  9   10
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) in Virus Transmission in Europe

Victor A Brugman et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Over the past three decades, a range of mosquito-borne viruses that threaten public and veterinary health have emerged or re-emerged in Europe. Mosquito surveillance activities have highlighted the Culex pipiens species complex as being critical for the maintenance of a number of these viruses. This species complex contains morphologically similar forms that exhibit variation in phenotypes that can influence the probability of virus transmission. Critical amongst these is the choice of host on which to feed, with different forms showing different feeding preferences. This influences the ability of the mosquito to vector viruses and facilitate transmission of viruses to humans and domestic animals. Biases towards blood-feeding on avian or mammalian hosts have been demonstrated for different Cx. pipiens ecoforms and emerging evidence of hybrid populations across Europe adds another level of complexity to virus transmission. A range of molecular methods based on DNA have been developed to enable discrimination between morphologically indistinguishable forms, although this remains an active area of research. This review provides a comprehensive overview of developments in the understanding of the ecology, behaviour and genetics of Cx. pipiens in Europe, and how this influences arbovirus transmission.

Keywords: Culex pipiens; West Nile virus; arbovirus; host preference; molestus; transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gel images showing discrimination between (a) Culex torrentium/Culex pipiens [M = ϕX174 marker, 1 = negative control, 2 = Cx. pipiens, 3 = Cx. torrentium] and (b) Cx. pipiens form pipiens, Cx. pipiens form molestus and hybrid forms [M = ϕX174 marker, 1 = negative control, 2 = form pipiens, 3 = form molestus, 4 = pipiens/molestus hybrid].
Figure 2
Figure 2
European country-level reports of natural hybrid populations of (a) Culex pipiens forms pipiens/molestus hybrids; (b) Culex pipiens/Culex quinquefasciatus hybrids. References available in Appendix A.
Figure 3
Figure 3
European country-level reports of Culex torrentium. References available in Appendix A.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Proportion of blood meals of Culex pipiens taken from birds, mammals or mixed bird/mammal sources. Data collated from [117,147,149].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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