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Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia

A novel phlebovirus, Punique virus (PUNV), was discovered and isolated in 2008 from sandflies from Northern Tunisia. PUNV is now classified as a unique member of the Punique phlebovirus species within the Phlebovirus genus in the Phenuiviridae family (order bunyavirales). In this study, we aimed to...

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Autores principales: Dachraoui, Khalil, Chelbi, Ifhem, Ben Said, Mourad, Ben Osman, Raja, Cherni, Saifedine, Charrel, Rémi, Zhioua, Elyes
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9147715/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35632646
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14050904
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author Dachraoui, Khalil
Chelbi, Ifhem
Ben Said, Mourad
Ben Osman, Raja
Cherni, Saifedine
Charrel, Rémi
Zhioua, Elyes
author_facet Dachraoui, Khalil
Chelbi, Ifhem
Ben Said, Mourad
Ben Osman, Raja
Cherni, Saifedine
Charrel, Rémi
Zhioua, Elyes
author_sort Dachraoui, Khalil
collection PubMed
description A novel phlebovirus, Punique virus (PUNV), was discovered and isolated in 2008 from sandflies from Northern Tunisia. PUNV is now classified as a unique member of the Punique phlebovirus species within the Phlebovirus genus in the Phenuiviridae family (order bunyavirales). In this study, we aimed to investigate the transmission dynamics of PUNV in Tunisia. Sandflies were collected during two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010, by CDC light traps. In 2009, a total of 873 sandflies were collected and identified to the species level. Phlebotomus perniciosus was the most abundant species. One pool of P. perniciosus females collected in autumn contained PUNV RNA, yielding an infection rate of 0.11%. The population densities of circulating sandfly species were assessed during May–November 2010 in Northern Tunisia by using sticky traps. Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perniciosus (71.74%) was the most abundant species, followed by Phlebotumus (Larroussius) longicuspis (17.47%), and Phlebotumus (Larroussius) perfiliewi (8.82%). The densities of dominant sandfly species were found to peak in early spring and again in the autumn. In 2010, species identification was not performed, and sandflies were only discriminated on the basis of sex and collection date. Out of 249 pools, three contained PUNV RNA. Each positive pool allowed virus isolation. The three pools of female sandflies containing PUNV RNA were collected in autumn with an infection rate of 0.05%. These findings provide further evidence that P. perniciosus is the main vector of PUNV in Tunisia, and this phlebovirus is endemic in Tunisia. Our findings provided strong evidence of intensive circulation of PUNV in sandflies and hosts through a viral infection buildup process between sandfly vectors and hosts starting at the beginning of the activity of sandflies in spring to reach a maximum during the second main peak in autumn.
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spelling pubmed-91477152022-05-29 Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia Dachraoui, Khalil Chelbi, Ifhem Ben Said, Mourad Ben Osman, Raja Cherni, Saifedine Charrel, Rémi Zhioua, Elyes Viruses Article A novel phlebovirus, Punique virus (PUNV), was discovered and isolated in 2008 from sandflies from Northern Tunisia. PUNV is now classified as a unique member of the Punique phlebovirus species within the Phlebovirus genus in the Phenuiviridae family (order bunyavirales). In this study, we aimed to investigate the transmission dynamics of PUNV in Tunisia. Sandflies were collected during two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010, by CDC light traps. In 2009, a total of 873 sandflies were collected and identified to the species level. Phlebotomus perniciosus was the most abundant species. One pool of P. perniciosus females collected in autumn contained PUNV RNA, yielding an infection rate of 0.11%. The population densities of circulating sandfly species were assessed during May–November 2010 in Northern Tunisia by using sticky traps. Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perniciosus (71.74%) was the most abundant species, followed by Phlebotumus (Larroussius) longicuspis (17.47%), and Phlebotumus (Larroussius) perfiliewi (8.82%). The densities of dominant sandfly species were found to peak in early spring and again in the autumn. In 2010, species identification was not performed, and sandflies were only discriminated on the basis of sex and collection date. Out of 249 pools, three contained PUNV RNA. Each positive pool allowed virus isolation. The three pools of female sandflies containing PUNV RNA were collected in autumn with an infection rate of 0.05%. These findings provide further evidence that P. perniciosus is the main vector of PUNV in Tunisia, and this phlebovirus is endemic in Tunisia. Our findings provided strong evidence of intensive circulation of PUNV in sandflies and hosts through a viral infection buildup process between sandfly vectors and hosts starting at the beginning of the activity of sandflies in spring to reach a maximum during the second main peak in autumn. MDPI 2022-04-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9147715/ /pubmed/35632646 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14050904 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Dachraoui, Khalil
Chelbi, Ifhem
Ben Said, Mourad
Ben Osman, Raja
Cherni, Saifedine
Charrel, Rémi
Zhioua, Elyes
Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title_full Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title_fullStr Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title_full_unstemmed Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title_short Transmission Dynamics of Punique Virus in Tunisia
title_sort transmission dynamics of punique virus in tunisia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9147715/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35632646
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14050904
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