Antibody Response to Toscana Virus and Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus in Cats Naturally Exposed to Phlebotomine Sand Fly Bites in Portugal

Pereira, André; Ayhan, Nazlı; Cristovao, JM; Vilhena, Hugo; Martins, Andrea; Cachola, Patrícia; Henriques, Joaquim; Coimbra, Mónica; Catarino, Ana Lúcia; Leštinová, Tereza; Spitzová, Tatiana; Volf, Petr; Campino, Lenea; Charrel, Rémi N.; Maia, Carla

doi:10.3390/microorganisms7090339

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In the last decade new phleboviruses have been associated with human infection and there is molecular and serological evidence of Sicilian virusrelated outbreaks in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Detection of anti-SFSV antibodies in studies performed on dogs and cats in Portugal [28][29][30] corroborates once again the circulation of this virus in our country.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Toscana Virus: Ten Years of Diagnostics in Portugal

Amaro

Zé-Zé²,

Luz³

et al. 2021

Acta Med Port

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Introduction: Toscana virus (TOSV) is an emerging sandfly-borne virus within the Phlebovirus genus. Although most infections caused by this virus present as asymptomatic or with minimal symptomatology, TOSV may emerge as a febrile disease or sporadic cases of neurological disease such as meningitis or meningoencephalitis. This pathogen is distributed throughout the Mediterranean basin, along with the spatial distribution of its recognized sandfly vector, Phlebotomus perniciosus. Portugal, after Italy, was the second country considered endemic for this virus, with the first case of acquired infection published in 1985. Although little is known about the circulation of this virus in Portugal, the laboratory diagnosis of TOSV is available at the Centre for Vectors and Infectious Diseases Research of the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (CEVDI/INSA), since 2007. The aim of this study is to report the results of the diagnosis of TOSV at the CEVDI/INSA, between 2009 and 2018.Material and Methods: The diagnosis of TOSV in the CEVDI/INSA is included in the arboviruses and vector-borne neurotropic viruses panels or can be performed, when specified, for TOSV only. Direct detection is made in cerebrospinal fluid samples and is available for TOSV by specific real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by conventional real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for sequencing purposes, if positive. For indirect diagnosis, performed in serum samples, an in-house immunofluorescence assay for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies against TOSV is used. A commercial immunofluorescence assay consisting in a mosaic of four phleboviruses is also available, in which, in addition to TOSV, antibody detection for sandfly fever Naples virus, sandfly fever Sicilian virus and sandfly fever Cyprus virus can be done. All diagnostic tests requested by clinicians to the CEVDI/INSA for arboviruses, neurotropic viruses and/or TOSV between January 2009 and December 2018, were included in this study.Results: During the study period, the CEVDI/INSA received samples from 608 patients with diagnostic requests for TOSV. Five acute TOSV infections and one acute sandfly fever Sicilian virus infection were confirmed in serum samples. Three other patients had serological evidence of previous contact with the virus. Two of the six patients with acute infection developed febrile syndrome, and the other four presented with neurological disease: meningitis (n = 2), meningoencephalitis (n = 1) and severe depression of consciousness (n = 1). These infections were most likely acquired in the districts of Faro (3), Lisbon (2) and Setúbal (1).Discussion: In Portugal, the number of laboratory diagnostic requests for TOSV is low when compared to the numbers of requests for other less prevalent vector-borne viruses. The Faro district presented the highest number of TOSV-specific diagnostic requests which seems to indicate a higher level of recognition by clinicians in that region. Febrile syndrome and neurological disease were the clinical manifestations that were present in acute cases. In this study, in addition to the Faro district, recent infections were also detected in the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal. It is probable that TOSV may be distributed throughout the mainland territory since its main vector is present from north to south. In 2017, the sandfly fever Sicilian virus was associated for the first time with human disease in our country, thus alerting to the circulation of this phlebovirus.Conclusion: Even though the number of identified cases in Portugal is low, TOSV circulates and causes disease in our country. The diagnosis of this and other phleboviruses should not be neglected in the differential diagnosis of febrile syndrome and viral meningitis and meningoencephalitis, especially during the warmer months, when the vector’s activity is higher.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Toscana Virus: Ten Years of Diagnostics in Portugal

Amaro

Zé-Zé²,

Luz³

et al. 2021

Acta Med Port

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“…In the absence of an officially recognized and standardized cut-off value for the neutralization assays for phleboviruses, we analyzed serum samples starting from the dilution 1/10, describing the sample reactivity for each of the viruses, without definitively attributing a positive result. However, other authors established higher cut-off values for what might be considered a positive neutralization result [20,21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Serological Evidence of Phleboviruses in Domestic Animals on the Pre-Apennine Hills (Northern Italy)

Lelli

Scanferla

Moreno

et al. 2021

Viruses

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Phleboviruses are arboviruses transmitted by sand flies, mosquitoes and ticks. Some sand fly-borne phleboviruses cause illnesses in humans, such as the summer fevers caused by the Sicilian and Naples viruses or meningitis caused by the Toscana virus. Indeed, traces of several phleboviral infections have been serologically detected in domestic animals, but their potential pathogenic role in vertebrates other than humans is still unclear, as is the role of vertebrates as potential reservoirs of these viruses. In this study, we report the results of a serological survey performed on domestic animals sampled in Northern Italy, against four phleboviruses isolated from sand flies in the same area. The sera of 23 dogs, 165 sheep and 23 goats were tested with a virus neutralization assay for Toscana virus, Fermo virus, Ponticelli I virus and Ponticelli III virus. Neutralizing antibodies against one or more phleboviruses were detected in four out of 23 dogs, 31 out of 165 sheep and 12 out of 23 goats. This study shows preliminary evidence for the distribution pattern of phleboviral infections in different animal species, highlighting the potential infection of the Toscana virus in dogs and the Fermo virus in goats.

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“…ELISA and IFAT) [1], or to a higher circulation of the virus. In this study, the use of the virus microneutralization assay, the most discriminative serological test adapted to differentiate the affinity of antibodies against different closely related viruses, together with the seroprevalences previously obtained in domestic animals in the same region and using the same technique (i.e., 2.8% in cats and 6.2% in dogs; [14,16]) point out that the neutralizing antibodies detected are specific to TOSV and represent and accurate seroprevalence to this virus and not an overestimation or an overall seroprevalence to other viruses close to TOSV [1]. In agreement with previous surveys [20,24,25], seroprevalence to TOSV increased with age, likely associated to a cumulative exposure to the vectors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the district of Setúbal, a region in the southwest of Portugal endemic of human and canine sandfly-borne leishmaniosis [13,14], seroprevalence rates up to 6.8% for TOSV, and 50.8% for SFSV in domestic animals [14][15][16] and the isolation or RNA detection of Alcube, Arrabida, and Massilia viruses in sandflies [17,18] have recently been reported. As data suggest the active circulation of several phleboviruses in the area, this study aimed to investigate exposure to the pathogenic TOSV and SFSV and associated risk factors in the human population residing in this region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human seroprevalence of Toscana virus and Sicilian phlebovirus in the southwest of Portugal

Maia

Ayhan

Cristóvão

et al. 2021

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis

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Toscana virus (TOSV) is emergent in the Mediterranean region and responsible for outbreaks of encephalitis or meningoencephalitis. Sicilian phlebovirus (SFSV) cause epidemics of febrile illness during the summer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of antibodies against TOSV and SFSV in humans in the southwest of Portugal. Neutralizing antibodies to TOSV and SFSV were respectively detected in 5.3% and 4.3% out of 400 human sera tested highlighting the need to increase public health awareness regarding phleboviruses and to include them in the differential diagnosis in patients presenting with fever of short duration and neurological manifestations.

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Antibody Response to Toscana Virus and Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus in Cats Naturally Exposed to Phlebotomine Sand Fly Bites in Portugal

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Toscana Virus: Ten Years of Diagnostics in Portugal

Toscana Virus: Ten Years of Diagnostics in Portugal

Serological Evidence of Phleboviruses in Domestic Animals on the Pre-Apennine Hills (Northern Italy)

Human seroprevalence of Toscana virus and Sicilian phlebovirus in the southwest of Portugal

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