title: Seroprevalence of Toscana virus in dogs from Corsica, France.
abstract: Toscana virus (TOSV) is an arbovirus belonging to the Bunyaviridae, a family of negative-stranded, enveloped RNA viruses. The virus can be transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected female sand fly of the genus Phlebotomus. Infections are usually asymptomatic but the virus is known to cause aseptic meningitis and/or meningo-encephalitis in the Mediterranean countries. Dogs are good sentinels for detection of viral circulation and are more easily accessible than wild animals.
  
  
  
  In 2013 and 2014, we collected sera from 231 adult dogs living in 26 counties in two departments in Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean. The virus microneutralization-based seroprevalence assay revealed a seropositivity of 3.9 % dogs on the eastern coast of Corsica.
  
  
  
  Our study confirms the circulation of TOSV in Corsica. Accordingly, in geographical areas where dogs possess TOSV neutralizing antibodies, direct and indirect TOSV diagnosis should be implemented in patients presenting with febrile illnesses and central nervous system infections such as meningitis and encephalitis.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1015, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. mus.dahmani@gmail.com.|Fondation Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, Marseille, France. mus.dahmani@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mustapha
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2218-8601
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dahmani
authors.affiliation: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (EPV: Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Marseille, France.|Fondation Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Sulaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alwassouf
authors.affiliation: French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), LRDE UR045, Corte, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grech-Angelini
authors.affiliation: Working Group of Animal Epidemiology of French Army Health Service, DRSSA Toulon, French Military Health Service Academy - École du Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Lou
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Marié
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1015, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Fondation Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, Marseille, France.|French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), LRDE UR045, Corte, France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davoust
authors.affiliation: UMR "Emergence des Pathologies Virales" (EPV: Aix-Marseille University - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - EHESP), Marseille, France.|Fondation Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Rémi N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Charrel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002044:Bunyaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D062312:Islands; D008297:Male; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000821:virology*; D029301:Sandfly fever Naples virus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000072739:Sentinel Species; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Corsica; Dog; France; Meningitis; Phlebotomus; Sand fly; Toscana virus