AI Article Synopsis
- The Kasokero virus (KASV) was first discovered in 1977 in bats in Uganda and is linked to both mild and severe illnesses in humans.
- Despite being part of a group of viruses usually transmitted by ticks or vertebrates, a tick vector for KASV was not identified until recent studies.
- Testing 786 tick pools from bat habitats revealed KASV RNA in several pools, suggesting KASV is spread between O. (R.) faini ticks and R. aegyptiacus bats, with potential risks for human transmission.
Article Abstract
Kasokero virus (KASV; genus Orthonairovirus) was first isolated in 1977 at Uganda Virus Research Institute from serum collected from Rousettus aegyptiacus bats captured at Kasokero Cave, Uganda. During virus characterization studies at the institute, 4 laboratory-associated infections resulted in mild to severe disease. Although orthonairoviruses are typically associated with vertebrate and tick hosts, a tick vector of KASV never has been reported. We tested 786 Ornithodoros (Reticulinasus) faini tick pools (3,930 ticks) for KASV. The ticks were collected from a large R. aegyptiacus bat roosting site in western Uganda. We detected KASV RNA in 43 tick pools and recovered 2 infectious isolates, 1 of which was derived from host blood-depleted ticks. Our findings suggest that KASV is maintained in an enzootic transmission cycle involving O. (R.) faini ticks and R. aegyptiacus bats and has the potential for incidental virus spillover to humans.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7706932 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2612.202411 | DOI Listing |
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