Presence of sandfly-borne phleboviruses of two antigenic complexes (Sandfly fever Naples virus and Sandfly fever Sicilian virus) in two different bio-geographical regions of Tunisia demonstrated by a microneutralisation-based seroprevalence study in dogs

International audienceBACKGROUND: Sandfly-borne phleboviruses are present in North Africa where they can infect humans in regions where Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in the Western Mediterranean basin is present affecting both humans and dogs. We investigated the capacity of dogs to be used as sentinels for sandfly-borne phleboviruses as previously shown for leishmaniasis.FINDINGS: A total of 312 sera were collected from guard dogs in two different bioclimatic regions (governorates of Kairouan and Bizerte) of Tunisia where zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis has been reported. These sera were tested for the presence of neutralising antibodies against 3 phleboviruses: Toscana virus, Punique virus and Sicilian virus. In the governorate of Kairouan, seroprevalence rates of 7.5%, 43.5%, and 38.1% were observed for Toscana, Punique and Sicilian virus, respectively. A high proportion of sera from the governorate of Bizerte were hemolyzed and showed high cytotoxicity for the cells and subsequently precluded detailed interpretation of this batch. However, validated results for 27 sera were in agreement with data observed in the governorate of Kairouan.CONCLUSIONS: Toscana virus is present in the governorate of Kairouan but at a lower rate compared to Punique and Sicilian viruses. These three sandfly-borne phleboviruses can infect dogs. Direct detection and isolation of the viruses are now to be attempted in animals as well as in humans. Our findings showed that guard dogs are good sentinels for virus transmitted by sandflies and strongly suggested that the high seroprevalence rates observed in dogs merit further attention

Séroépidémiologie des phlebovirus émergents : technique d'optimisation et études de séroprévalence dans le bassin méditerranéen

Parmi les phlébovirus (famille des Bunyaviridae, genre Phlebovirus), ceux qui sont transmis par les phlébotomes de l'Ancien Monde sont largement distribués dans le bassin méditerranéen. Les infections humaines causées certains de ces phlébovirus sont connues depuis longtemps, mais elles restent tout de même négligées en médecine en raison de l'absence de données épidémiologiques solides (problème des réactions croisées) et d'outils de diagnostic rapides et fiables.La première partie de cette thèse a été consacrée à l'optimisation d'un test de neutralisation du virus pour étudier la séroprévalence de 5 virus, et leur capacité respective à infecter les humains et les animaux.La deuxième partie visait à mesurer la séroprévalence de phlébovirus appartenant aux 3 complexes antigéniques transmis par les phlébotomes dans le bassin méditerranéen (Sandfly fever Naples, Sandfly fever Sicilian et Salehabad). Ces études ont été menées sur des sérums de chiens et de chats en Tunisie, Portugal, Grèce/Chypre.La troisième partie a montré la capacité de virus récemment découverts dans le serocomplexe Salehabad (Adana et Medjerda valley virus) à infecter l'homme et les animaux traduisant un potentiel pathogène à explorer par des études spécifiques.La dernière partie a démontré la présence du virus Toscana en Kabylie (Algérie du Nord), et l'exposition extrêmement élevée des populations humaines vivant dans la région, avec des prévalence 10 fois plus élevées que dans les régions les plus à risque du sud-est de la France.Sandfly-borne phleboviruses, transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies and belonging to the genus Phlebovirus within the Bunyaviridae family are widely distributed in Mediterranean basin. Human diseases caused by infection with phleboviruses are known for a long time, but they are still neglected due to the lack of epidemiological knowledge and of diagnostic tools.The first part of this thesis was dedicated to optimize a comparative virus neutralisation test to study the seroprevalence of selected phleboviruses and to assess the capacity of each virus to infect humans and animals. The second part aimed to estimate the epidemiology of phlebovirus serocomplexes (Naples, Sicilian and Salehabad) in Mediterranean basin. In order to update the presence of these viruses and their capacity to infect animals, several serologic studies were carried out on animal blood samples in Tunisia, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus. The results demonstrated that the phleboviruses belonging to 3 distinct groups are widely circulating and capable to infect non human vertebrate at different rates in studied countries.The third part showed the capacity of newly discovered viruses (Adana and Medjerda valley viruses) belonging to Salehabad serocomplex to infect human and animal at low and high rates, respectively. These findings suggest the medical and veterinary importance of these viruses. The last part of this thesis, confirm the circulation of Toscana virus by seroprevelance study which was carried out in local population in north Algeria where Toscana virus was isolated recently. The high rate of circulate suggests that Toscana virus is heavily affecting sandfly-exposed people in Algeria

Seroprevalence of Sandfly-Borne Phleboviruses Belonging to Three Serocomplexes (Sandfly fever Naples, Sandfly fever Sicilian and Salehabad) in Dogs from Greece and Cyprus Using Neutralization Test.

Phleboviruses transmitted by sandflies are endemic in the Mediterranean area. The last decade has witnessed the description of an accumulating number of novel viruses. Although, the risk of exposure of vertebrates is globally assessed, detailed geographic knowledge is poor even in Greece and Cyprus where sandfly fever has been recognized for a long time and repeatedly. A total of 1,250 dogs from mainland Greece and Greek archipelago on one hand and 422 dogs from Cyprus on the other hand have been sampled and tested for neutralising antibodies against Toscana virus (TOSV), Sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), Arbia virus, and Adana virus i.e. four viruses belonging to the 3 sandfly-borne serocomplexes known to circulate actively in the Mediterranean area. Our results showed that (i) SFSV is highly prevalent with 71.9% (50.7-84.9% depending on the region) in Greece and 60.2% (40.0-72.6%) in Cyprus; (ii) TOSV ranked second with 4.4% (0-15.4%) in Greece and 8.4% (0-11.4%) in Cyprus; (iii) Salehabad viruses (Arbia and Adana) displayed also substantial prevalence rates in both countries with values ranging from 0-22.6% depending on the region and on the virus strain used in the test. These results demonstrate that circulation of viruses transmitted by sand flies can be estimated qualitatively using dog sera. As reported in other regions of the Mediterranean, these results indicate that it is time to shift these viruses from the "neglected" status to the "priority" status in order to stimulate studies aiming at defining and quantifying their medical and veterinary importance and possible public health impact. Specifically, viruses belonging to the Sandfly fever Sicilian complex should be given careful consideration. This calls for implementation of direct and indirect diagnosis in National reference centers and in hospital microbiology laboratories and systematic testing of unelucidated febrile illness and central and peripheral nervous system febrile manifestations

Serological association between Leishmania infantum and sand fly fever Sicilian (but not Toscana) virus in sheltered dogs from southern Portugal

Background: Phlebotomine sand fly-borne diseases such as leishmanioses and phleboviruses are emerging threats to animal and public health. Canine leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum is an endemic zoonosis in Portugal. Antibodies to Toscana virus (TOSV) and sand fly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) were also reported in dogs from the south of the country. The aim of this work was to evaluate a possible association between exposure to L. infantum, TOSV and SFSV in sheltered dogs from the south of Portugal. Results: Seventy-six (13.1%) out of 581 dogs were seropositive for L. infantum, 327 (56.3%) for SFSV and 36 (6.2%) for TOSV. Six dogs were co-exposed with L. infantum and TOSV, 51 with L. infantum and SFSV and 25 with TOSV and SFSV. One dog had antibodies to the three pathogens. Leishmania infantum seroprevalence was significantly higher in pure breed dogs than in mongrels and in dogs with clinical signs while SFSV positivity was significantly higher in males, in pure and cross-breed dogs than in mongrels and in those not treated with insecticides. Seroprevalence for both viruses was significantly higher in dogs over than 7 years-old than in those aged 1-7. A significant association was observed between the presence of antibodies to L. infantum and SFSV. Conclusions: The presence of antibodies to several phlebotomine sand fly-borne pathogens in dogs, reinforces the need to implement efficient prophylactic measures to prevent infection among vertebrate hosts including humans. The results also indicate that dogs are good sentinels for assessing human exposure to TOSV and SFSV. Further studies must be performed to elucidate the role of dogs in the dynamics of transmission and if they can play a role as amplifying or reservoir hosts in the natural cycle of these viruses. Public and animal health impacts of these phleboviruses in Portugal should be addressed via serological and virological studies on both phlebotomine sand flies and vertebrate hosts, especially on humans.publishersversionpublishe

Seroprevalence of Toscana virus in dogs from Corsica, France

International audienceBackground: 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.Findings: 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.Conclusions: 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

Corrigendum to “Identification of rickettsial immunoreactive proteins using a proximity ligation assay Western blotting and the traditional immunoproteomic approach” [Comp. Immunol. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 58 (2018) 17-25]

International audienc

Identification of rickettsial immunoreactive proteins using a proximity ligation assay Western blotting and the traditional immunoproteomic approach

International audienceThe closely related species Rickettsia conorii and R. africae are both etiological agents of rickettsiosis, a tick-borne serious infective disease. The laboratory diagnosis is based on serology, but remains not enough specific to provide the diagnosis at the species level. Here, we attempted to identify specific proteins that would enable the discrimination of R. africae sp from R. conorii sp infections. We screened 22 R. africae- and 24 R. conorii-infected sera at different course of infection using a traditional immunoproteomic approach. In parallel, we focused on the technical development of a ``relatively new technique'' named a proximity ligation assay coupled to two-dimensional Western blotting. The top range markers of R. africae early infection were rpoA, atpD, and acnA, ORF0029, R. africae active infection were rOmpB beta-peptide, OmpA, groEL and ORF1174, early R. conorii infection was prsA, RC0031, pepA, R. conorii active infection were ftsZ, cycM and rpoA. They are candidates for serodiagnosis of rickettsioses

Seroprevalence of Sandfly‐Borne Phleboviruses Belonging to Three Serocomplexes (<i>Sandfly fever Naples</i>, <i>Sandfly fever Sicilian</i> and <i>Salehabad</i>) in Dogs from Greece and Cyprus Using Neutralization Test - Fig 1

<p>Geographic distribution of neutralising antibodies against Toscana virus (panel A), Sandfly fever Sicilian virus (panel B), Arbia virus (panel C) in Greece, using ArcGIS 10). Panel D represent the localisation of regions listed in <a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005063#pntd.0005063.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>.</p

Characteristics of dogs tested in the study.

<p>Characteristics of dogs tested in the study.</p

Neutralization-based seroprevalence of Toscana virus and sandfly fever Sicilian virus in dogs and cats from Portugal

Sandfly-borne phleboviruses are endemic in the Mediterranean basin. However, levels of exposure of human and animal populations are inadequately researched. Toscana virus (TOSV) is present in Portugal where it causes human infection and disease; in contrast there are few data for sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) which has neither been isolated nor detected by molecular tests and for which there are only limited serological data. The sera collected from 1160 dogs and 189 cats in southern Portugal were tested for the presence of neutralizing antibodies against TOSV and SFSV, two viruses recognized as distinct serocomplexes in the Mediterranean region. Our data showed (i) seropositivity to TOSV and SFSV in dogs at a rate of 6.8 and 50.8 %, respectively, and (ii) that 3.7 % of cats were seropositive for TOSV. TOSV findings are in line with previous results obtained with less stringent serological assays. Our results for SFSV in dogs clearly indicate that the virus is circulating widely and that humans may be exposed to infection via the dogs. Although the presence of SFSV was suggested by haemagglutination inhibition in 4/1690 human sera in 1974, this is the first time, as far as we know, that SFSV has been shown to circulate so widely in dogs in Portugal. Future studies should be directed at isolating strains of SFSV in Portugal from dogs, humans and sandflies collected in high prevalence regions. As dogs appear to be good sentinels for SFSV, their role as a possible reservoir in the natural cycle should also be considered