Human-Pathogenic Kasokero Virus in Field-Collected Ticks

Abstract

T he genus Orthonairovirus (family Nairoviridae) comprises ≈40 viruses (1), including human pathogens such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. The orthonairoviruses are assigned to 14 species (1), most of which have been associated with a single vertebrate subphylum (Vertebrata: bats, birds, rodents, shrews, or ungulates) and tick order (Ixodida: argasids or ixodids) (2). The species Kasokero orthonairovirus comprises 3 viruses isolated from bats belonging to the suborder Yinpterochiroptera (3,4) (Pteropodiformes) (5) in Africa, namely Yogue virus (YOGV; Rousettus aegyptiacus, Senegal), Leopards Hill virus (LPHV; Hipposideros gigas, Zambia), and Kasokero virus (KASV; Rousettus aegyptiacus, Uganda) (2,6,7).

Natural reservoir Rousettus aegyptiacus bat host model of orthonairovirus infection identifies potential zoonotic spillover mechanisms

“…The genus Orthonairovirus (family Nairoviridae ) comprises 48 viruses, including the highly human-pathogenic Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, that are maintained in enzootic cycles involving tick and vertebrate hosts 12 . Eight of the orthonairoviruses, including Estero Real 13 , Gossas 14 , Issyk-Kul 15 – 18 , Kasokero 19 , 20 , Keterah 14 , 21 , Leopards Hill 22 , Uzun Agach 23 , 24 , and Yogue 14 , 25 viruses, have been isolated from bats and/or their argasid tick ectoparasites. A mouse model of Leopards Hill virus infection demonstrated an acute, lethal disease resembling Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever in humans 22 , and Issy-Kul 15 – 17 and Kasokero 19 viruses are known human pathogens that cause febrile illness, often progressing to prolonged systemic disease.…”

Histopathologic and Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Induced Lesions, Tissue Tropism and Host Responses following Experimental Infection of Egyptian Rousette Bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) with the Zoonotic Paramyxovirus, Sosuga Virus

“…Ecological, epidemiological and experimental infection studies have identified ERBs as the primary source of marburgvirus spillover to primates, including humans [6,7,10,[19][20][21]. ERBs have been associated with a number of novel viruses, including diverse, yet unnamed rubulaviruses and Bukakata orbivirus, two paramyxoviruses related to the henipaviruses, Achimota viruses 1 and 2 and Kasokero virus (KASV; family Nairoviridae), which have known zoonotic potential [22][23][24][25][26].…”

High Throughput Sequencing for the Detection and Characterization of RNA Viruses

“…The advantage of this approach is that the probes are essentially reverse primers so they are cheap and easy to design (Fauver et al, 2019 ). DSN has been applied successfully for the sequencing of RNA viruses in complex matrices (Schuh et al, 2020 ; Zhou et al, 2020 ). For subtractive hybridization, unwanted rRNAs/cDNAs are hybridized to biotinylated DNA or Locked nucleic acid ( LNA ) probes and depleted with streptavidin beads (Briese et al, 2015 ; Culviner et al, 2020 ).…”