Seroprevalence of antibodies to sandfly fever Sicilian virus in a sample population in Tuscany, Italy.

Toscana virus is the main phlebovirus circulating in Tuscany during the warm season, thus, a seroprevalence study was performed in the same area to estimate the antibody prevalence rates for sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) that is endemic in the Mediterranean countries. The low seroprevalence observed in this study shows that this virus does not play an important role in the etiology of febrile illness in central Italy.