Unit of Vector Ecology, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immuno-Biology of Infections, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia.
Viruses. 2023 Apr 20;15(4):1012. doi: 10.3390/v15041012.
The role of dogs as reservoir hosts for Toscana virus (TOSV) remains undetermined. This study investigated TOSV and infections in one healthy and three infected dogs with (A, B, C) following natural exposition to sandfly bites in a focus of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) located in Northern Tunisia from June to October 2020. At the end of the exposition period, infected and healthy dogs were examined for TOSV and infections by xenodiagnosis using a colony of . Pools of freshly engorged at days 0 and those at days 7 post-feeding were screened for TOSV and by nested PCR in the polymerase gene and kinetoplast minicircle DNA, respectively. In the exposure site, is the most abundant sandfly species. The infection rates of sandflies with TOSV and were 0.10 and 0.05%, respectively. DNA and TOSV RNA were detected in females fed on dog B and C, respectively. The isolation of TOSV in Vero cells was achieved from two pools containing fed on dog C. No pathogens were detected in females fed on dog A and on control dog. We report for the first time the reservoir competence of dog with ZVL in the transmission of TOSV to sandfly vectors in natural settings, in addition to its role as a main reservoir host of .
狗作为托斯卡纳病毒（TOSV）的储存宿主的作用仍未确定。本研究调查了 2020 年 6 月至 10 月在突尼斯北部一个动物源性内脏利什曼病（ZVL）疫区中，1 只健康犬和 3 只感染犬（A、B、C）在自然暴露于沙蝇叮咬后的 TOSV 和 感染情况。在暴露期结束时，通过使用一群 进行异种诊断，检查感染和健康犬的 TOSV 和 感染情况。在第 0 天和第 7 天采集新鲜饱血的 和 进行巢式 PCR，分别在聚合酶基因和动基体微环 DNA 中筛选 TOSV 和 。在暴露地点， 是最丰富的沙蝇物种。携带 TOSV 和 的沙蝇感染率分别为 0.10%和 0.05%。在狗 B 和 C 上叮咬的雌性 中检测到 DNA 和 TOSV RNA。从含有狗 C 上叮咬的 的两个池中分离到 TOSV。在狗 A 和对照犬上叮咬的雌性 中未检测到病原体。我们首次报告了 ZVL 犬在自然环境中向沙蝇传播 TOSV 的储存能力，此外，它还是 的主要储存宿主。
