Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, 06100 Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey.
Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011 Apr;17(4):575-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03346.x. Epub 2010 Nov 5.
Sandfly fever viruses (SFVs) cause febrile diseases as well as aseptic meningitis/encephalitis and include serotypes sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), sandfly fever Naples virus (SFNV) and Toscana virus (TOSV). Infections are endemic in the Mediterranean basin and data on SFV activity in Turkey are limited. In this study, sera from 1533 blood donors from the Ankara, Konya, Eskisehir and Zonguldak provinces of Turkey were evaluated for SFV exposure by indirect immunofluorescence test (IIFT) and confirmed by virus neutralization test (VNT). One hundred and two patients with central nervous system (CNS) infections of unknown aetiology were also tested via IIFT and real-time reverse-transcription PCR for SFV/TOSV. Rate of overall IgG reactivity in IIFT was 32.9% (505/1533) among blood donors. TOSV exposure was confirmed by VNT in all study regions. Exposure to the recently-identified serotype sandfly fever Turkish virus, as evaluated by VNT, was revealed in Konya and Ankara. SFNV exposure was identified in Konya and SFSV was observed to be present in all regions except Zonguldak. TOSV RNA was detected in 15.7% (16/102) and was accompanied by TOSV IgM in 25% (4/16) of the patients. Partial L and S sequences suggested that TOSV circulating in Turkey can be grouped into TOSV genotype A strains. Exposure to TOSV and other SFV serotypes was revealed in blood donors and CNS infections by TOSV were identified for the first time in Turkey. Infections are observed to be endemic in central Anatolia and should be considered as aetiologic agents in cases/outbreaks of fever and meningoencephalitis.
沙蝇热病毒（SFVs）可引起发热性疾病以及无菌性脑膜炎/脑炎，包括沙蝇热西西里病毒（SFSV）、沙蝇热那不勒斯病毒（SFNV）和托斯卡纳病毒（TOSV）血清型。这些感染在地中海盆地呈地方性流行，有关土耳其 SFV 活动的数据有限。在这项研究中，通过间接免疫荧光试验（IIFT）评估了来自土耳其安卡拉、科尼亚、埃斯基谢希尔和宗古尔达克省的 1533 名献血者的血清中 SFV 暴露情况，并通过病毒中和试验（VNT）进行了确认。还通过 IIFT 和实时逆转录 PCR 对 102 名中枢神经系统（CNS）感染病因不明的患者进行了 SFV/TOSV 检测。IIFT 中 IgG 总反应率为献血者的 32.9%（505/1533）。在所有研究区域均通过 VNT 证实了 TOSV 暴露。通过 VNT 评估，在科尼亚和安卡拉发现了最近确定的沙蝇热土耳其病毒血清型的暴露。在科尼亚发现了 SFNV 暴露，而在除宗古尔达克以外的所有地区都观察到了 SFSV 的存在。在 15.7%（16/102）的患者中检测到 TOSV RNA，其中 25%（4/16）的患者伴有 TOSV IgM。部分 L 和 S 序列表明，在土耳其循环的 TOSV 可分为 TOSV 基因型 A 株。在献血者中发现了 TOSV 和其他 SFV 血清型的暴露，并且首次在土耳其确定了 TOSV 引起的 CNS 感染。观察到感染在中安纳托利亚呈地方性流行，应考虑将其作为发热和脑膜脑炎病例/暴发的病因。
