Kosovo has previously seen two bluetongue (BT) epizootics, each caused by a different serotype, BTV-9 in 2001 and BTV-4 in 2014. Since 2014, no clinical cases of BT have been reported in Kosovo. In September, 2020, clinical signs suggestive of BTV infection were observed in several sheep farms in Kosovo. Blood samples from sheep (n = 40) were collected and subjected to further molecular investigations. Molecular analyses confirmed BTV serotype 4 (BTV-4) infection in thirty-six sheep from five different farms across two different regions. Full genome sequence analyses indicated that the BTV-4 strains (KOS2020/01 and KOS2020/02) detected in Kosovo in 2020 had high sequence identity (99.9%-100%) with a strain responsible for an outbreak in North Macedonia in July, 2020, (MKD2020/06) and with previous isolates (≥99.3%) from Greece, Hungary, and France. The percent nucleotide sequence (nt%) identity and phylogenetic analyses suggest that the incursion of BTV-4 into Kosovo was a re-emergence of a previously seen strain and not a novel reassortant. This could be due to a reintroduction of the strain into the region or from subclinical circulation which had been ongoing and underreported for years. Surveillance across Kosovo and the Balkan region to monitor the circulation of BTV is crucial if outbreaks are to be brought under control.

• MeSH
• Disease Outbreaks veterinary   MeSH
• Farms MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Bluetongue * epidemiology   virology   MeSH
• Sheep MeSH
• Retrospective Studies MeSH
• Serogroup MeSH
• Bluetongue virus * genetics   isolation & purification   classification   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Kosovo epidemiology   MeSH

BACKGROUND: Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are medically important vectors of human and veterinary disease-causing agents. Among these, the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), and phleboviruses are of utmost importance. Despite such significance, updated information about sand fly fauna is missing for Balkan countries where both sand flies and autochtonous leishmaniases are historically present and recently re-emerging. Therefore, a review of historical data on sand fly species composition and distribution in the region was followed by a large-scale entomological survey in eight Balkan countries to provide a recent update on local sand fly fauna. METHODS: The literature search involved the period 1910-2019. The entomological survey was conducted at 1189 sampling stations in eight countries (Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia), covering 49 settlements and 358 sampling sites between June and October in the years 2014 and 2016, accumulating 130 sampling days. We performed a total of 1189 trapping nights at these stations using two types of traps (light and CO2 attraction traps) in each location. Sampling was performed with a minimal duration of 6 (Montenegro) and a maximal of 47 days (Serbia) between 0-1000 m.a.s.l. Collected sand flies were morphologically identified. RESULTS: In total, 8490 sand fly specimens were collected. Morphological identification showed presence of 14 species belonging to genera Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia. Historical data were critically reviewed and updated with our recent findings. Six species were identified in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2 new records), 5 in Montenegro (2 new records), 5 in Croatia (2 new records), 9 in Bulgaria (5 new records), 11 in North Macedonia (1 new record), 10 in Serbia (no new records), 9 in Kosovo (3 new records) and 4 in Slovenia (no new records). CONCLUSIONS: This study presents results of the first integrated sand fly fauna survey of such scale for the Balkan region, providing first data on sand fly populations for four countries in the study area and presenting new species records for six countries and updated species lists for all surveyed countries. Our findings demonstrate presence of proven and suspected vectors of several Leishmania species.

• Keywords
• Balkans, Morphology, Phlebotomine, Sand fly, Species,
• MeSH
• Insect Vectors classification   parasitology   MeSH
• Leishmaniasis transmission   MeSH
• Psychodidae classification   parasitology   MeSH
• Animal Distribution * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Geographicals
• Balkan Peninsula MeSH