Transferability of HIV by arthropods supports the hypothesis about transmission of the virus from apes to man.

The primate Pan troglodytes troglodytes, a chimpanzee subspecies, has recently been defined as a natural animal host of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Apes are traditionally hunted in Africa and are offered for sale in open-air meat markets. The bloody carcasses are regularly covered with blood-feeding flies, amongst them possibly the stable fly (Stomoxvs calcitrans L.

Artificial feeding of Ornithodoros concanensis (Acari: Argasidae) nymphs on bovine blood and morphological changes in erythrocytes undergoing hemolysis in the tick midgut.

The morphology of bovine erythrocytes undergoing hemolysis in the midgut of the argasid tick Ornithodoros concanensis Cooley & Kohls was examined after feeding nymphal ticks artificially on parafilm and latex membranes. Percentage of successful feeding was significantly higher on parafilm (63%) than on latex (43%) membrane. However, there was no difference in the amount of blood taken per tick.

[Is there the possibility of transmission of AIDS by blood-sucking insects?].

The question whether the possibility exists of transmission of HIV by hematophagous insects from infected to uninfected persons is a point of very intensive discussion. The solution of this problem could help to explain the spreading of the disease in human populations and could contribute to an understanding of the evolution of AIDS and the possible transfer from wild primates into human populations. The classical routes of pathogen transmission by blood-sucking arthropods are either "mechanical" or "biological".