The swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hempitera: Cimicidae), was studied with regard to infection, transmission, and replication of Fort morgan (FM) virus. Swallow bugs were allowed to feed on experimentally-infected house sparrows. After 18 or more days of incubation at 22°C, swallow bugs were either tested for presence of virus or allowed to feed on new FM-susceptible sparrows. From 70 to 80% of bugs contained virus after incubation, and virus was transmitted by bite on 10 occasions. On 3 such occasions, the incubation period was between 233 and 311 days and included periods near 4°C. Ultimate virus content of bugs was ∼ 103.5 plaque forming units/insect in cell culture. This is the 1st report of biologic virus transmission by a member of this family.
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Rush et al. (1980) studied this question.
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