Abstract
Mukawa virus (MKWV), a novel tick-borne virus (TBV) of the genus Phlebovirus of family Phenuiviridae, has been firstly reported in Ixodes persulcatus in Japan. In this study, we made an epidemiological investigation in China to obtain the geographic distribution and genetic features of this virus outside Japan. We screened 1,815 adult ticks (665 I. persulcatus, 336 Dermacentor silvarum, 599 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 170 Rhipicephalus microplus, 45 Haemaphysalis concinna) and 805 wild small mammals collected from eight provinces. The positive rate of 6.77% (45/665, including 18 female and 27 male I. persulcatus) and 2.22% (1/45, 1 male H. concinna) were obtained from I. persulcatus and H. concinna in Heilongjiang province, respectively. No evidence of MKWV infection was found in other three tick species or any of the mammalian species. The virus can infect the Vero cells successfully, indicating the ability of MKWV to replicate in mammalian cells. A phylogenetic tree based on the nucleotide sequences of L, M, and S segments demonstrated that the Japanese MKWV variant, our two MKWV variants, and KURV were clustered with the members of the mosquito/sandfly-borne phleboviruses and distant from other tick-borne phenuiviruses. A phylogenetic analysis based on 895 bp partial L gene sequences (n = 46) showed that all MKWV sequences were separated into three lineages. Our results showed the presence of MKWV in I. persulcatus and H. concinna in northeast of China, highlighting the necessity of epidemiological study in wider regions. Due to the ability of MKWV to replicate in mammalian cells, the potential for zoonosis, and wide distribution of I. persulcatus and H. concinna in China, the important vectors of MKWV, further screening to more tick species, wild animals, domestic animals, and humans raises up practical significance.
Highlights
In the past several years, the scope and variety of the tick-borne infectious disease (TBD) have increased dramatically, driven largely by the use of molecular diagnostic techniques that have facilitated the identification of novel tick-borne viruses (TBVs)
From September 2017 to October 2021, a total of 1,815 adult ticks (665 I. persulcatus, 336 Dermacentor silvarum, 599 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 170 Rhipicephalus microplus, and 45 H. concinna) and 805 wild small mammals were collected in eight provinces (Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Liaoning, and Zhejiang) in China (Figure 1)
The positive detection for Mukawa virus (MKWV) was determined from 2.5% (46/1,815) of ticks, including I. persulcatus (6.77%, 45/665) and H. concinna (2.22%, 1/45), both significantly higher than those obtained from other tick species (0% for 336 D. silvarum, 599 H. longicornis, and 170 R. microplus) (Table 1)
Summary
In the past several years, the scope and variety of the tick-borne infectious disease (TBD) have increased dramatically, driven largely by the use of molecular diagnostic techniques that have facilitated the identification of novel tick-borne viruses (TBVs). A serological survey in wildlife disclosed the presence of neutralizing antibodies against MKWV in both Yezo deer and raccoons captured in the first-discovery place in Hokkaido (Torii et al, 2019) This finding supported the establishment of endemic foci for MKWV with zoonotic potential in Japan. We detected various species of small mammals and dominant tick species in eight provinces across China, determining the presence of MKWV in I. persulcatus and H. concinna in northeastern China. This knowledge might help to improve our understanding of the epidemiological feature of MKWV, to guide diagnostic and treatment algorithms in case of causing human infection in the future
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