Abstract
Toscana Virus Isolated from Sandflies, Tunisia
Highlights
A seroprevalence study suggested that Toscana virus (TOSV) is present in Tunisia and may cause neuroinvasive infections, but definitive evidence of TOSV circulation has not been possible because it is difficult to distinguish from the antigenically related phlebovirus Punique virus [3,4]; both viruses are members of the species Sandfly fever Naples virus
We investigated the prevalence of TOSV among sandflies in northern Tunisia
We found that TOSV Tunisia-2010-T152 was most closely related to the prototype strain from Italy, Iss.PhL3, with nucleotide/ amino acid distances of 0.031/0.052, 0.032/0.073, and 0.039/0.012 for the S, M, and L RNA sequences, respectively
Summary
To the Editor: Toscana virus (TOSV; genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae) is transmitted by sandflies, mostly the species Phlebotomus perniciosus and P. perfiliewi [1]. A seroprevalence study suggested that TOSV is present in Tunisia and may cause neuroinvasive infections, but definitive evidence of TOSV circulation has not been possible because it is difficult to distinguish from the antigenically related phlebovirus Punique virus [3,4]; both viruses are members of the species Sandfly fever Naples virus. We investigated the prevalence of TOSV among sandflies in northern Tunisia.
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