Punique virus, a novel phlebovirus, related to sandfly fever Naples virus, isolated from sandflies collected in Tunisia

Abstract

Sandflies are widely distributed around the Mediterranean Basin. Therefore, human populations in this area are potentially exposed to sandfly-transmitted diseases, including those caused by phleboviruses. Whilst there are substantial data in countries located in the northern part of the Mediterranean basin, few data are available for North Africa. In this study, a total of 1489 sandflies were collected in 2008 in Tunisia from two sites, bioclimatically distinct, located 235 km apart, and identified morphologically. Sandfly species comprised Phlebotomus perniciosus (52.2 %), Phlebotomus longicuspis (30.1 %), Phlebotomus papatasi (12 .0%), Phlebotomus perfiliewi (4.6 %), Phlebotomus langeroni (0.4 %) and Sergentomyia minuta (0.5 %). PCR screening, using generic primers for the genus Phlebovirus, resulted in the detection of ten positive pools. Sequence analysis revealed that two pools contained viral RNA corresponding to a novel virus closely related to sandfly fever Naples virus. Virus isolation in Vero cells was achieved from one pool. Genetic and phylogenetic characterization based on sequences in the three genomic segments showed that it was a novel virus distinct from other recognized members of the species. This novel virus was provisionally named Punique virus. Viral sequences in the polymerase gene corresponding to another phlebovirus closely related to but distinct from sandfly fever Sicilian virus were obtained from the eight remaining positive pools.

Presence of sandfly-borne phleboviruses of two antigenic complexes ( Sandfly fever Naples virus and Sandfly fever Sicilian virus ) in two different bio-geographical regions of Tunisia demonstrated by a microneutralisation-based seroprevalence study in dogs

“…For this study the 3 virus strains were (i) Toscana virus strain MRS2010-4319501 [13], (ii) Punique virus strain Tunisia2009T101 [7], (iii) Sandfly fever Sicilian virus strain Sabin [14]. The plate was incubated at 37°C for one hour, then a 100 μL volume of Vero cells containing approximately 2.10 4 cells in 5% foetal bovine serum was added to each well, and incubated at 37°C in presence of 5% CO 2 .…”

“…A recent sero-epidemiological study conducted in the governorate of Bizerte (northern Tunisia) showed that both Toscana and Punique viruses could infect human populations although Toscana virus was much more prevalent than Punique virus [5]. In Tunisia, Toscana, Punique and Utique viruses were detected and/or isolated from Phlebotomus pernicious and Phlebotomus longicuspis, which are considered as possible vectors of phleboviruses [2,7]. Both sandfly species are also the main vectors of Leishmania infantum, etiologic agent of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) in Tunisia [8][9][10].…”

Sandfly Virus Encephalitis in Israel: Two Case Reports and a Review

“…Among the SFVs, only TOSV is related to neuro-invasive disease, while other sand-fly variants cause a mild flu-like illness, but the serological differentiation between the serotypes is very difficult and they are usually regarded as one serocomplex. In recent years, the geographical distribution of TOSV (or closely related other phleboviruses) has been extended dramatically within the old world and antigenically similar novel viruses have been reported [2,[15][16][17][18]. Therefore, our cases might represent a TOSV-related neuro-invasive strain, even though the immunofluorecsence assays were unable to distinguish between the viruses within the sand-fly virus serocomplex.…”

An Outbreak of Acute Febrile Illness Caused by Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, 2011

“…4 Recently, molecular evidence showed the presence of two distinct phleboviruses closely related to SFSV in Algeria and Tunisia. 15,16 Nucleic acids detected in this study within positive samples shared approximately 99% nucleotide sequence identity with strains that were associated with human illness in Cyprus and Turkey in 2008, implicating a possible Eastern Mediterranean origin of the Ethiopian strain of SFSV.…”