Bluetongue in the Sultanate of Oman, a preliminary epidemiological study.

A group specific agar-gel immunodiffusion test was used to demonstrate that there is a frequent and widespread distribution of bluetongue virus throughout the Sultanate of Oman. The Culicoides midges C. imicola and C. schultzei, both capable of transmitting bluetongue group viruses, were recorded throughout the year. Although these studies did not establish that bluetongue is enzootic in Oman, type-specific neutralizing antibody results supported previous evidence for the existence of a Saudi Arabian bluetongue ecosystem. Variations in antibody evidence of virus activity within a restricted locality suggested a hot-spot theory concerning the perpetuation of the virus.