Mechanical transmission of lumpy skin disease virus by Aedes aegypti (Diptera : Culicidae)

Aedes aegypti female mosquitoes are capable of the mechanical transmission of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) from infected to susceptible cattle. Mos quitoes that had fed upon lesions of LSDV-infected cattle were able to tran smit virus to susceptible cattle over a period of 2-6 days post-infective f eeding. Virus was isolated from the recipient animals in 5 out of 7 cases. The clinical disease recorded in the animals exposed to infected mosquitoes was generally of a mild nature, with only one case being moderate. LSDV ha s long been suspected to be insect transmitted, but these findings are the first to demonstrate this unequivocally, and they suggest that mosquito spe cies are competent vectors.