Dahmani Mustapha, Alwassouf Sulaf, Grech-Angelini Sébastien, Marié Jean-Lou, Davoust Bernard, Charrel Rémi N
Research Unit of Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) UMR CNRS 7278 IRD 198 INSERM U1015, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
Fondation Méditerranée Infection, APHM Public Hospitals of Marseille, Marseille, France.
Parasit Vectors. 2016 Jul 1;9(1):381. doi: 10.1186/s13071-016-1665-4.
Toscana virus (TOSV) is an arbovirus belonging to the Bunyaviridae, a family of negative-stranded, enveloped RNA viruses. The virus can be transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected female sand fly of the genus Phlebotomus. Infections are usually asymptomatic but the virus is known to cause aseptic meningitis and/or meningo-encephalitis in the Mediterranean countries. Dogs are good sentinels for detection of viral circulation and are more easily accessible than wild animals.
In 2013 and 2014, we collected sera from 231 adult dogs living in 26 counties in two departments in Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean. The virus microneutralization-based seroprevalence assay revealed a seropositivity of 3.9 % dogs on the eastern coast of Corsica.
Our study confirms the circulation of TOSV in Corsica. Accordingly, in geographical areas where dogs possess TOSV neutralizing antibodies, direct and indirect TOSV diagnosis should be implemented in patients presenting with febrile illnesses and central nervous system infections such as meningitis and encephalitis.
托斯卡纳病毒（TOSV）是一种属于布尼亚病毒科的虫媒病毒，该病毒科是一类负链、包膜RNA病毒。该病毒可通过受感染的白蛉属雌性沙蝇叮咬传播给人类。感染通常无症状，但已知该病毒在地中海国家会引起无菌性脑膜炎和/或脑膜脑炎。狗是检测病毒传播的良好哨兵，并且比野生动物更容易接触到。
2013年和2014年，我们从生活在科西嘉岛（地中海的一个法国岛屿）两个省26个县的231只成年狗身上采集了血清。基于病毒微量中和的血清阳性率检测显示，科西嘉岛东海岸3.9%的狗血清呈阳性。
我们的研究证实了托斯卡纳病毒在科西嘉岛的传播。因此，在狗具有托斯卡纳病毒中和抗体的地理区域，对于出现发热性疾病以及中枢神经系统感染（如脑膜炎和脑炎）的患者，应进行托斯卡纳病毒的直接和间接诊断。
