Bunyaviruses are common in male and female Ixodes scapularis ticks in central Pennsylvania

PeerJ

article

Joyce M. Sakamoto¹  Terry Fei Fan Ng³  Yasutsugu Suzuki¹  Hitoshi Tsujimoto¹  Xutao Deng⁸  Eric Delwart⁸  Jason L. Rasgon¹ 

[1] Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park;Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park;Molecular Virology, Blood Systems Research Institute;Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;Department of Virology, Institute Pasteur;The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park;Department of Biology, New Mexico State University;Department of Laboratory Medicine, Blood Systems Research Institute;University of California

关键词: Tick;    Virus;    Metagenomics;    Vector-borne pathogen;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2324

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis is widely distributed in the United States and transmits multiple pathogens to humans, wildlife and domestic animals. Recently, several novel viruses in the family Bunyaviridae (South Bay virus (SBV) and Blacklegged tick phlebovirus (BTPV)) were identified infecting female I. scapularis ticks collected in New York State. We used metagenomic sequencing to investigate the distribution of viruses infecting male and female I. scapularis ticks collected in Centre County, Pennsylvania. We identified both SBV and BTPV in both male and female ticks from all collection locations. The role of male I. scapularis in pathogen epidemiology has been overlooked because they rarely bite and are not considered important pathogen vectors. However, males may act as reservoirs for pathogens that can then be transmitted to females during mating. Our data highlight the importance of examining all potential avenues of pathogen maintenance and transmission throughout the vector-pathogen life cycle in order to understand the epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens.

【 授权许可】

CC BY