title: Phleboviruses associated with sand flies in arid bio-geographical areas of Central Tunisia.
abstract: An entomological investigation was carried out in 2014 at two sites located in Central Tunisia, one irrigated and another non-irrigated situated in arid bio-geographical areas. Sand flies of the subgenus Larroussius namely Phlebotomus perfiliewi, Phlebotomus perniciosus, and Phlebotomus longicuspis are the most abundant sand fly species in the irrigated site. However, in the non-irrigated site, Phlebotomus papatasi of the Phlebotomus genus is the most abundant species. A total of 3191 sand flies were collected and pooled with up to 30 specimens per pool based on sex, trapping location and collection date, were tested for the presence of phleboviruses by nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in the polymerase gene and sequenced. Of a total of 117 pools, 4 were positive, yielding a minimum infection rate of sand flies with phleboviruses of 0.12%. Phylogenetic analysis performed using partial nucleotide and amino acid sequence in the polymerase gene showed that these phleboviruses belonged to four different clusters corresponding to Toscana virus (TOSV), Saddaguia virus (SADV), Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus (SFSV) and Utique virus (UTIV). This study provides more evidence that the abundance of P. perfiliewi is associated with the development of irrigation in arid bio-geographical areas of Central Tunisia which may have led to the emergence of phleboviruses. We report the first detection of TOSV from sand flies collected from Central Tunisia.
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia; Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Bizerte, Tunisia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dachraoui
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fares
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille University, IRD French Institute of Research for Development, EHESP French School of Public Health, EPV UMR_D 190 "Emergence des Pathologies Virales", 13385 Marseille, France; IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, 13385 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bichaud
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Barhoumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beier
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Derbali
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cherni
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille University, IRD French Institute of Research for Development, EHESP French School of Public Health, EPV UMR_D 190 "Emergence des Pathologies Virales", 13385 Marseille, France; IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, 13385 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: X de
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lamballerie
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chelbi
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille University, IRD French Institute of Research for Development, EHESP French School of Public Health, EPV UMR_D 190 "Emergence des Pathologies Virales", 13385 Marseille, France; IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, 13385 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Charrel
authors.affiliation: Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Tunis, Tunisia. Electronic address: elyes.zhioua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhioua
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology*; D016856:Phlebovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D014416:Tunisia
keywords: Emerging; Mediterranean basin; Phlebotomus; Phlebovirus; Saddaguia virus; Sand flies; Sandfly fever sicilian virus; Toscana virus; Utique virus