Vladimir Ivović

First record of Aedes koreicus (Diptera, Culicidae) in Slovenia

The first record of Aedes koreicus was made in the village of Lovrenc na Dravskem Polju, north-eastern part of the country. The discovery of Ae. koreicus in various continental European countries motivated us to revise samples of the collected Aedes japonicus japonicus. We found Ae. koreicus in samples from 2013, where the larvae were misidentified as Ae. j. japonicus. The species was identified morphologically and molecularly. The first discovery of Ae. koreicus advocates an urgent need for a nationwide mosquito surveillance programme.

Cocirculation of Two Lineages of Toscana Virus in Croatia

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Cocirculation of Two Lineages of Toscana Virus in Croatia Nazli Ayhan, Bülent Alten, Vladimir Ivovic, Franjo Martinkovic, Ozge Kasap, Yusuf Ozbel, Xavier de Lamballerie, Rémi Charrel

Direct evidence for an expanded circulation area of the recently identified Balkan virus (Sandfly fever Naples virus species) in several countries of the Balkan archipelago

BackgroundRecently, Balkan virus (BALKV, family Phenuiviridae, genus Phlebovirus) was discovered in sand flies collected in Albania and genetically characterised as a member of the Sandfly fever Naples species complex. To gain knowledge concerning the geographical area where exposure to BALKV exists, entomological surveys were conducted in 2014 and 2015, in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia and Serbia.ResultsA total of 2830 sand flies were trapped during 2014 and 2015 campaigns, and organised as 263 pools. BALKV RNA was detected in four pools from Croatia and in one pool from BH. Phylogenetic relationships were examined using sequences in the S and L RNA segments. Study of the diversity between BALKV sequences from Albania, Croatia and BH showed that Albanian sequences were the most divergent (9–11% [NP]) from the others and that Croatian and BH sequences were grouped (0.9–5.4% [NP]; 0.7–5% [L]). The sand fly infection rate of BALKV was 0.26% in BH and 0.27% in Croatia. Identification of the species content of pools using cox1 and cytb partial regions showed that the five BALKV positive pools contained Phlebotomus neglectus DNA; in four pools, P neglectus was the unique species, whereas P. tobbi DNA was also detected in one pool.ConclusionsWe report here (i) the first direct evidence that the Balkan virus initially described in coastal Albania has a much wider dissemination area than originally believed, (ii) two real-time RT-PCR assays that may be useful for further screening of patients presenting with fever of unknown origin that may be caused by Balkan virus infection, (iii) entomological results suggesting that Balkan virus is likely transmitted by Phlebotomus neglectus, and possibly other sand fly species of the subgenus Larroussius. So far, BALKV has been detected only in sand flies. Whether BALKV can cause disease in humans is unknown and remains to be investigated.

Presence and Potential Distribution of Aedes albopictus and Aedes japonicus japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Slovenia

Abstract In Slovenia, two invasive mosquito species are present, Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895) (Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes japonicus (Theobald, 1901) (Diptera: Culicidae). In this study, we examined their actual distribution and suitable habitats for new colonizations. Data from survey of species presence in 2013 and 2015, bioclimatic variables and altitude were used for the construction of predictive maps. We produced various models in Maxent software and tested two bioclimatic variable sets, WorldClim and CHELSA. For the variable selection of A. albopictus modeling we used statistical and expert knowledge-based approach, whereas for A. j. japonicus we used only a statistically based approach. The best performing models for both species were chosen according to AIC score-based evaluation. In 2 yr of sampling, A. albopictus was largely confined to the western half of Slovenia, whereas A. j. japonicus spread significantly and can be considered as an established species in a large part of the country. Comparison of models with WorldClim and CHELSA variables for both species showed models with CHELSA variables as a better tool for prediction. Finally, we validated the models performance in predicting distribution of species according to collected field data. Our study confirms that both species are co-occurring and are sympatric in a large part of the country area. The tested models could be used for future prevention of invasive mosquitoes spreading in other countries with similar bioclimatic conditions.

Illegal waste sites as potential micro foci of Mediterranean Leishmaniasis

Apart from being against the law, illegal waste dumping also poses a threat to human health and to the environment. Solid and decomposing waste is an ideal breeding ground for a number of rodents, insects, and other vermin that pose a health risk through the spread of infectious diseases. The main objective of this study was to survey disease vectors and rodents for the presence of Leishmania sp. from illegal waste sites along the Istrian Peninsula in Slovenia and Croatia. The entomological and rodent survey was carried out between April 2011 and May 2013, at 12 locations, considering only illegal waste sites which consist of at least 2 m3 of garbage. A total of 119 specimens of Phlebotomine sandflies were collected. Five species were identified as follow: Sergentomyia minuta (48.7%), Phlebotomus perniciosus (30.3%), P. papatasi (13.4%), P. neglectus (5%) and P. mascitii (2.6%). Additionally, 173 small rodents were trapped at the same sites including following species: Rattus rattus (3.5%), Mus musculus (44%), Apodemus agrarius (27%), A. flavicollis (15%) and A. sylvaticus (10.5%). A geospatial analysis software ArcView was used to map the distribution of both vectors and rodents. Sandflies and rodents were screened using a molecular probe to amplify an approximately 120 bp fragment of the kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle for the detection of Leishmania spp. parasites. While not recorded in the tested sandflies, L. infantum DNA was detected in the spleen of one juvenile black rat (R. rattus). Despite few published records on Leishmania spp. infection in black rats, the addition of our record highlights the importance for further investigation into the frequency and distribution of such occurrences so that we may better classify the role of rodents as potential reservoirs of leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean basin.