Abstract
Phlebotomine sandflies are vectors of phleboviruses that cause sandfly fever or meningitis with significant implications for public health. Although several strains of these viruses had been isolated in Iran in the late 1970's, there was no recent data about the present situation at the outset of this study. Entomological investigations performed in 2009 and 2011 in Iran collected 4,770 sandflies from 10 different regions. Based on morphological identification, they were sorted into 315 pools according to species, sex, trapping station and date of capture. A phlebovirus, provisionally named Dashli virus (DASHV), was isolated from one pool of Sergentomyia spp, and subsequently DASHV RNA was detected in a second pool of Phlebotomus papatasi. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses based on complete coding genomic sequences indicated that (i) DASHV is most closely related to the Iranian isolates of Sandfly fever Sicilian virus [SFSV], (ii) there is a common ancestor to DASHV, Sandfly fever Sicilian- (SFS) and SFS-like viruses isolated in Italy, India, Turkey, and Cyprus (lineage I), (iii) DASHV is more distantly related with Corfou and Toros viruses (lineage II) although common ancestry is supported with 100% bootstrap, (iii) lineage I can be subdivided into sublineage Ia including all SFSV, SFCV and SFTV except those isolated in Iran which forms sublineage Ib (DASHV). Accordingly, we suggest to approve Sandfly fever Sicilian virus species consisting of the all aforementioned viruses. Owing that most of these viruses have been identified in human patients with febrile illness, DASHV should be considered as a potential human pathogen in Iran.
Highlights
The genus Phlebovirus, family Phenuiviridae currently contains 9 recognised virus species, and 33 tentative species [1]
Sicilian virus [SFSV], a virus that is known to cause self-resolutive incapacitating febrile illness in humans, (ii) there is a common ancestor to Dashli virus (DASHV) and all other variants of SFSV isolated in Italy, India, Turkey, and Cyprus, (iii) DASHV is more distantly related with Corfou and Toros viruses common ancestry is supported with 100% bootstrap, (iii) lineage I can be subdivided into sublineage Ia including all SFSV strains, whereas Iranian viruses are most closely related and should be individualized as DASHV
In the Old World, sandfly-borne phleboviruses are distributed in the Mediterranean region, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and central Asia, where they are transmitted by sandflies belonging to the genera Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia
Summary
The genus Phlebovirus, family Phenuiviridae currently contains 9 recognised virus species (grouping 37 viruses), and 33 tentative species [1]. At least 9 new viruses (Adana, Alcube, Arrabida, Fermo, Granada, Medjerda Valley, Punique, Toros, Zerdali) have been isolated and appear to belong to the three groups primarily transmitted by phlebotomines in the Old World [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. In the Old World, sandfly-borne phleboviruses are distributed in the Mediterranean region, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and central Asia, where they are transmitted by sandflies belonging to the genera Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia. New World sandfly-borne phleboviruses are transmitted by phlebotomines of the genus Lutzomyia. Phleboviruses pathogenic for humans include: (i) Alenquer (ALEV), Candiru (CDUV), Escharte (ESCV), Serra Norte (SRNV), Morumbi (MRBV), Maldonado (MLOV), Chagres (CHGV), Adria (ADRV), Naples (SFNV), Sicilian (SFSV) and Toscana viruses (TOSV), all of which are transmitted by sandflies, (ii)
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