title: Sandfly-Borne Phlebovirus Isolations from Turkey: New Insight into the Sandfly fever Sicilian and Sandfly fever Naples Species.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many studies have presented virus sequences which suggest the existence of a variety of putative new phleboviruses transmitted by sandflies in the Old World. However, in most of these studies, only partial sequences in the polymerase or the nucleoprotein genes were characterised. Therefore to further our understand of the presence and potential medical importance of sandfly-borne phleboviruses that circulate in southern Anatolia, we initiated field campaigns in 2012 and 2013 designed to identify, isolate and characterise phleboviruses in sandflies in this region.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An entomological investigation encompassing 8 villages in Adana, Mediterranean Turkey was performed in August and September 2012 and 2013. A total of 11,302 sandflies were collected and grouped into 797 pools which were tested for the presence of phleboviruses using specific primers for RT-PCR analysis and also cell culture methods for virus isolation. Seven pools were PCR positive, and viruses were isolated from three pools of sandflies, resulting in the identification of two new viruses that we named Zerdali virus and Toros virus. Phylogenetic analysis based on full-length genomic sequence showed that Zerdali virus was most closely related with Tehran virus (and belongs to the Sandfly fever Naples species), whereas Toros virus was closest to Corfou virus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that a variety of phleboviruses are co-circulating in this region of southern Anatolia. Based on our studies, these new viruses clearly belong to genetic groups that include several human pathogens. However, whether or not Toros and Zerdali viruses can infect humans and cause diseases such as sandfly fever remains to be investigated.
authors.affiliation: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (EPV: Aix-Marseille University-IRD 190-Inserm 1207-EHESP), Marseille, France.|Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille 13385, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alkan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ecology Section, ESR Laboratories, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozge
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Erisoz Kasap
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ecology Section, ESR Laboratories, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alten
authors.affiliation: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (EPV: Aix-Marseille University-IRD 190-Inserm 1207-EHESP), Marseille, France.|Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille 13385, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: de Lamballerie
authors.affiliation: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (EPV: Aix-Marseille University-IRD 190-Inserm 1207-EHESP), Marseille, France.|Fondation IHU Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille 13385, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Rémi N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Charrel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D016856:Phlebovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000821:virology*; D029301:Sandfly fever Naples virus / Q000235:genetics*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology