Viral RNA Metagenomics of Hyalomma Ticks Collected from Dromedary Camels in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia.

Fathiah Zakham,Abdullah D Alanazi,Tarja Sironen,Phuoc Truong Nguyen,Aishah E Albalawi,Olli Vapalahti,Altaf Alaoui,Teemu Smura,Abdulaziz S Alouffi

doi:10.3390/v13071396

Abstract

Arthropod-borne infections are a medical and economic threat to humans and livestock. Over the last three decades, several unprecedented viral outbreaks have been recorded in the Western part of the Arabian Peninsula. However, little is known about the circulation and diversity of arthropod-borne viruses in this region. To prepare for new outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, it is important to detect which viruses circulate in each vector population. In this study, we used a metagenomics approach to characterize the RNA virome of ticks infesting dromedary camels (Camelus dromedaries) in Makkah province, Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ticks of species Hyalomma dromedarii (n = 196) and Hyalomma impeltatum (n = 4) were collected from the Alkhurma district in Jeddah and Al-Taif city. Virome analysis showed the presence of several tick-specific viruses and tick-borne viruses associated with severe illness in humans. Some were identified for the first time in the Arabian Peninsula. The human disease-associated viruses detected included Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever virus and Tamdy virus (family Nairoviridae), Guertu virus (family Phenuiviridae), and a novel coltivirus that shares similarities with Tarumizu virus, Tai forest reovirus and Kundal virus (family Reoviridae). Furthermore, Alkhurma hemorrhagic virus (Flaviviridae) was detected in two tick pools by specific qPCR. In addition, tick-specific viruses in families Phenuiviridae (phleboviruses), Iflaviridae, Chuviridae, Totiviridae and Flaviviridae (Pestivirus) were detected. The presence of human pathogenetic viruses warrants further efforts in tick surveillance, xenosurveillence, vector control, and sero-epidemiological investigations in human and animal populations to predict, contain and mitigate future outbreaks in the region.

Highlights

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) was isolated from Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma ticks infesting small ruminants imported from Sudan to Saudi Arabia in 2000 [5]
In the last few years, several outbreaks of zoonotic viruses have emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, with some being associated with high fatality rate in humans and/or animals
As little is known about the diversity of viruses in the ticks of the Arabian Peninsula, deepening the knowledge of tick-borne viruses is crucial to prepare for and contain future outbreaks or epizootics

Summary

Introduction

Saudi Arabia has witnessed an upsurge of viruses with high morbidity and mortality rates in humans and livestock. E.g., the Middle East Respiratory creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Several studies have found pathogenic viruses from different species of ticks in Saudi Arabia. CCHFV was isolated from Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus and Amblyomma ticks infesting small ruminants imported from Sudan to Saudi Arabia in 2000 [5]. In 2007, AHFV RNA was detected in Ornithodoros savignyi ticks from the Western part of Saudi Arabia after several human cases were reported [6]. Another study confirmed the circulation of the AHFV in O. savignyi and H. dromedarii ticks in the Najran region (southwestern part) of the kingdom [7].

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Results

Conclusion