Dataset Information

Isolation of Tacaribe virus, a Caribbean arenavirus, from host-seeking Amblyomma americanum ticks in Florida.

ABSTRACT: Arenaviridae are a family of single stranded RNA viruses of mammals and boid snakes. Twenty-nine distinct mammalian arenaviruses have been identified, many of which cause severe hemorrhagic disease in humans, particularly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and in Central and South America. Humans typically become infected with an arenavirus through contact with excreta from infected rodents. Tacaribe virus (TCRV) is an arenavirus that was first isolated from bats and mosquitoes during a rabies surveillance survey conducted in Trinidad from 1956 to 1958. Tacaribe virus is unusual because it has never been associated with a rodent host and since that one time isolation, the virus has not been isolated from any vertebrate or invertebrate hosts. We report the re-isolation of the virus from a pool of 100 host-seeking Amblyomma americanum (lone star ticks) collected in a Florida state park in 2012. TCRV was isolated in two cell lines and its complete genome was sequenced. The tick-derived isolate is nearly identical to the only remaining isolate from Trinidad (TRVL-11573), with 99.6% nucleotide identity across the genome. A quantitative RT-PCR assay was developed to test for viral RNA in host-seeking ticks collected from 3 Florida state parks. Virus RNA was detected in 56/500 (11.2%) of surveyed ticks. As this virus was isolated from ticks that parasitize humans, the ability of the tick to transmit the virus to people should be evaluated. Furthermore, reservoir hosts for the virus need to be identified in order to develop risk assessment models of human infection.

SUBMITTER: Sayler KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4275251 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Isolation of Tacaribe virus, a Caribbean arenavirus, from host-seeking Amblyomma americanum ticks in Florida.

Sayler Katherine A KA Barbet Anthony F AF Chamberlain Casey C Clapp William L WL Alleman Rick R Loeb Julia C JC Lednicky John A JA

PloS one 20141223 12

Arenaviridae are a family of single stranded RNA viruses of mammals and boid snakes. Twenty-nine distinct mammalian arenaviruses have been identified, many of which cause severe hemorrhagic disease in humans, particularly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and in Central and South America. Humans typically become infected with an arenavirus through contact with excreta from infected rodents. Tacaribe virus (TCRV) is an arenavirus that was first isolated from bats and mosquitoes during a rabies surv ...[more]

PMID: 25536075

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Project description:Cytauxzoon felis is a tick-borne hemoprotozoan parasite that causes life-threatening disease in domestic cats in the United States. Currently, the platforms for C. felis research are limited to natural or experimental infection of domestic cats. This study aims to develop an alternative model by infecting Amblyomma americanum ticks with C. felis via direct injection. Amblyomma americanum adults were injected with C. felis-infected feline erythrocytes through two routes: directly into the digestive tract through the anal pore (IA injection), or percutaneously into the tick hemocoel (IH injection). RNAscope® in situ hybridization (ISH) was used to visualize the parasites within the ticks at different time points after injection. Four months after injection, ticks were divided into 3 infestation groups based on injection methods and inoculum type and fed on 3 naïve cats to assess the ticks' ability to transmit C. felis. Prior to the transmission challenge, selected ticks from each infestation group were tested for C. felis RNA via reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). In both IA- and IH-injected ticks, ISH signals were observed in ticks up to 3 weeks after injection. The number of hybridization signals notably decreased over time, and no signals were detected by 4 months after injection. Prior to the transmission challenge, 37-57% of the sampled ticks were positive for C. felis RNA via RT-PCR. While the majority of injected ticks successfully attached and fed to repletion on all 3 cats during the transmission challenge, none of the cats became infected with C. felis. These results suggest that injected C. felis remained alive in ticks but was unable to progress to infective sporozoites after injection. It is unclear why this infection technique had been successful for other closely related tick-borne hemoprotozoa and not for C. felis. This outcome may be associated with uncharacterized differences in the C. felis life cycle, the lack of the feeding or molting in our model or absence of gametocytes in the inoculum. Nonetheless, our study demonstrated the potential of using ticks as an alternative model to study C. felis. Future improvement of a tick model for C. felis should consider other tick species for the injection model or utilize infection methods that more closely emulate the natural infection process.

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Dataset Information

Isolation of Tacaribe virus, a Caribbean arenavirus, from host-seeking Amblyomma americanum ticks in Florida.

Publications

Isolation of Tacaribe virus, a Caribbean arenavirus, from host-seeking Amblyomma americanum ticks in Florida.

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