Hall R A, Scherret J H, Mackenzie J S
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Dec;951:153-60.
Kunjin (KUN) is a flavivirus in the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex that was first isolated from Culex annulirostris mosquitoes captured in northern Australia in 1960. It is the etiological agent of a human disease characterized by febrile illness with rash or mild encephalitis and, occasionally, of a neurological disease in horses. KUN virus shares a similar epidemiology and ecology with the closely related Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus, the major causative agent of arboviral encephalitis in Australia. Based on traditional antigenic methods, KUN was initially found to be similar to, but distinct from, reference strains of West Nile (WN) virus and designated as a new species. However, more recent phylogenic analyses have revealed that some strains of WN virus, including the isolates from New York, are more similar to KUN virus and form a separate lineage to other WN viruses. An unusual KUN isolate from Malaysia and the African virus Koutango appear to form additional lineages within the WN group of viruses. While these findings are in agreement with the Seventh Report of the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses that designates KUN as a subtype of West Nile, they also suggest that the species should be further subdivided into additional subtypes.
库京病毒（KUN）是日本脑炎抗原复合体中的一种黄病毒，1960年首次从澳大利亚北部捕获的环喙库蚊中分离出来。它是一种人类疾病的病原体，其特征为伴有皮疹的发热性疾病或轻度脑炎，偶尔也会导致马匹患神经系统疾病。库京病毒与密切相关的墨累谷脑炎（MVE）病毒具有相似的流行病学和生态学特征，MVE病毒是澳大利亚虫媒病毒性脑炎的主要病原体。基于传统抗原方法，最初发现库京病毒与西尼罗河（WN）病毒参考毒株相似但又不同，并被指定为一个新物种。然而，最近的系统发育分析表明，一些西尼罗河病毒毒株，包括来自纽约的分离株，与库京病毒更相似，并形成了一个与其他西尼罗河病毒不同的谱系。来自马来西亚的一种不寻常的库京病毒分离株和非洲病毒库坦戈病毒似乎在西尼罗河病毒组内形成了其他谱系。虽然这些发现与国际病毒分类委员会第七次报告一致，该报告将库京病毒指定为西尼罗河病毒的一个亚型，但它们也表明该物种应进一步细分为更多亚型。
