Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Viruses. 2021 Jul 18;13(7):1396. doi: 10.3390/v13071396.
Arthropod-borne infections are a medical and economic threat to humans and livestock. Over the last three decades, several unprecedented viral outbreaks have been recorded in the Western part of the Arabian Peninsula. However, little is known about the circulation and diversity of arthropod-borne viruses in this region. To prepare for new outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, it is important to detect which viruses circulate in each vector population. In this study, we used a metagenomics approach to characterize the RNA virome of ticks infesting dromedary camels () in Makkah province, Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ticks of species ( = 196) and ( = 4) were collected from the Alkhurma district in Jeddah and Al-Taif city. Virome analysis showed the presence of several tick-specific viruses and tick-borne viruses associated with severe illness in humans. Some were identified for the first time in the Arabian Peninsula. The human disease-associated viruses detected included Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever virus and Tamdy virus (family Nairoviridae), Guertu virus (family Phenuiviridae), and a novel coltivirus that shares similarities with Tarumizu virus, Tai forest reovirus and Kundal virus (family Reoviridae). Furthermore, Alkhurma hemorrhagic virus (Flaviviridae) was detected in two tick pools by specific qPCR. In addition, tick-specific viruses in families Phenuiviridae (phleboviruses), Iflaviridae, Chuviridae, Totiviridae and Flaviviridae (Pestivirus) were detected. The presence of human pathogenetic viruses warrants further efforts in tick surveillance, xenosurveillence, vector control, and sero-epidemiological investigations in human and animal populations to predict, contain and mitigate future outbreaks in the region.
虫媒传染病对人类和牲畜的健康构成严重威胁。在过去的三十年中，阿拉伯半岛西部地区记录了几次前所未有的病毒爆发。然而，人们对该地区虫媒病毒的传播和多样性知之甚少。为了应对新的虫媒传染病爆发，检测每种媒介种群中传播的病毒非常重要。在这项研究中，我们使用宏基因组学方法来描述沙特阿拉伯麦加省流行的单峰驼（）上寄生的蜱的 RNA 病毒组。从吉达的 Alkhurma 区和塔伊夫市采集了 200 只种蜱（=196 只）和（=4 只）。病毒组分析显示存在几种与严重人类疾病相关的蜱特异性病毒和蜱传病毒。其中一些是在阿拉伯半岛首次发现的。检测到的与人类疾病相关的病毒包括克里米亚刚果出血热病毒和 Tamdy 病毒（白蛉病毒科）、Guertu 病毒（菲蚊病毒科）和一种新型 coltivirus，与 Tarumizu 病毒、太林野病毒和 Kundal 病毒（呼肠孤病毒科）有相似之处。此外，通过特定的 qPCR 在两个蜱池中检测到 Alkhurma 出血热病毒（黄病毒科）。此外，还检测到了白蛉病毒科（黄病毒）、Iflaviridae、Chuviridae、Totiviridae 和 Flaviviridae（瘟病毒）家族的蜱特异性病毒。这些人类病原体病毒的存在需要进一步加强蜱监测、异源监测、媒介控制以及人类和动物群体的血清流行病学调查，以预测、遏制和减轻该地区未来的疫情爆发。
