Toscana virus isolated from sandflies, Morocco

• Published in: Parasites & vectors Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 205
• Main Authors: Es-sette, Nargys, Ajaoud, Malika, Anga, Latifa, Mellouki, Fouad, Lemrani, Meryem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer-Verlag 03.04.2015; BioMed Central; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; cutaneous leishmaniasis; Encephalitis; Entomology; Health aspects; Infectious Diseases; Insect Vectors; Leishmaniasis; Letter to the Editor; meningitis; Morocco; Parasitology; Phlebotominae; Phlebotomus longicuspis; Phlebotomus sergenti; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Psychodidae - anatomy & histology; Psychodidae - classification; Psychodidae - virology; public health; risk; Sandflies; Sandfly fever Naples phlebovirus; Sandfly fever Naples virus; Sandfly fever Naples virus - genetics; Sandfly fever Naples virus - isolation & purification; Toscana virus; Tropical Medicine; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Virology; Virus Cultivation; Morocco; Morocco; Toscana virus; Sandflies
• ISSN: 1756-3305; 1756-3305
• DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-0826-1

To investigate the transmission of phleboviruses, a total of 7,057 sandflies were collected in well-known foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis and were identified to species level according to morphological characters.Collected sandflies were tested by Nested PCR for the presence of Phleboviruses and subsequently by viral isolation on Vero cells. The corresponding products were sequenced. Toscana virus was isolated, for the first time, from 5 pools of sandflies.Hence, Toscana virus should be considered a potential risk that threatens public health and clinicians should be aware of the role of Toscana virus in cases of meningitis and encephalitis in Morocco.