Abstract
ABSTRACTBackground: Ticks are primary vectors for many well-known disease-causing agents that affect human and animal populations globally such as tick-borne encephalitis, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and African swine fever. In this study, viral metagenomics was used to identify what viruses are present in Rhipicephalus spp. ticks collected in the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique.Methods: The RNA was amplified with sequence-independent single primer amplification (SISPA) and high-throughput sequencing was performed on the Ion Torrent platform. The generated sequences were subjected to quality check and classfied by BLAST. CodonCode aligner and SeqMan were used to assemble the sequences.Results: The majority of viral sequences showed closest sequence identity to the Orthomyxoviridae family, although viruses similar to the Parvoviridae and Coronaviridae were also identified. Nearly complete sequences of five orthomyxoviral segments (HA, NP, PB1, PB2, and PA) were obtained and these showed an amino acid identity of 32–52% to known quaranjaviruses. The sequences were most closely related to the Wellfleet Bay virus, detected and isolated from common eider during a mortality event in the USA.Conclusions: In summary, this study has identified a highly divergent virus with in the Orthomyxoviridae family associated with Rhipicephalus ticks from Mozambique. Further genetic and biological studies are needed in order to investigate potential pathogenesis of the identified orthomyxovirus.
Highlights
Arthropods can act as biological vectors that transmit infectious agents and thereby cause diseases in humans and animals
Different studies have shown that viral pathogens, such as Thogoto viruses, Wad Medani virus, Nairobi sheep disease virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, African swine fever virus and Tick-borne encephalitis virus [1,6,7,8], can be found in Rhipicephalus ticks
Since ticks are known vectors for potentially pathogenic and non-pathogenic viruses and the virome of ticks is understudied in this region, the current study used viral metagenomics to identify viruses associated with Rhipicephalus ticks collected in the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique
Summary
Arthropods can act as biological vectors that transmit infectious agents and thereby cause diseases in humans and animals. Ticks are the most common arthropod vector for viruses, bacteria, and other parasites causing different vector-borne diseases. Ticks from different parts of the world have been shown to carry viruses belonging to, for example, the Bunyaviridae, Flaviviridae, Asfaviridae and Orthomyxoviridae families [1]. Different studies have shown that viral pathogens, such as Thogoto viruses, Wad Medani virus, Nairobi sheep disease virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, African swine fever virus and Tick-borne encephalitis virus [1,6,7,8], can be found in Rhipicephalus ticks. Ticks are primary vectors for many well-known disease-causing agents that affect human and animal populations globally such as tick-borne encephalitis, CrimeanCongo hemorrhagic fever and African swine fever. Viral metagenomics was used to identify what viruses are present in Rhipicephalus spp. ticks collected in the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique
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