title: Multiple Phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae) genetic groups detected in Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma and Dermacentor ticks from southern Portugal.
abstract: In the last decade, various research groups have reported a large diversity of new tick-borne phleboviruses, mostly prompted by the discovery of important human pathogens such as the Heartland and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome viruses. Since these analyses have rarely been conducted using ticks collected from Southern Europe, this study was carried out so as to bring new insights into the diversity of phleboviruses circulating in Southern Portugal. Tick specimens were collected from the vegetation (questing ticks) or directly from animals (feeding ticks), and the majority analysed in pools using a detection strategy targeting the large (L) viral genomic segment. A high number of pools revealed the presence of phebovirus sequences, regardless of gender (male/female), origin (questing/feeding) or even species of the tick analysed. These sequences apparently formed three different groups in phylogenetic trees, and encoded L proteins characterized by group-specific amino acid residues. Furthermore, under the conditions used, these viruses failed to replicate in both Vero and DH82 cells. The impact these viruses may have on human/animal health will be addressed in the future.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Lúcia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Figueira
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esteves
authors.affiliation: Centro de Recuperação e Investigação de Animais Selvagens (RIAS)-Associação ALDEIA, Olhão, Portugal.
authors.forename: António José
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Cotão
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Luísa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Campo Grande 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal; Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal; Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, IHMT/UNL, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal; Unidade de Parasitologia Médica, IHMT/UNL, Portugal.
authors.forename: Lenea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campino
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal; Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), IHMT/UNL, Portugal. Electronic address: ricardo@ihmt.unl.pt.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parreira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000821:virology*; D016856:Phlebovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011174:Portugal
keywords: L-segment sequences; Phleboviruses; Phylogenetic characterization; Southern Portugal; Ticks