Ticks are vectors of a wide variety of pathogens that are implicated in mild to severe disease in humans and other animals. Nonetheless, the full range of tick-borne pathogens is unknown. Viruses, in ...particular, have been neglected in discovery efforts targeting tick-borne agents. High throughput sequencing was used to characterize the virome of 638 ticks, including Rhipicephalus microplus (n = 320), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n = 300), and Amblyomma ovale (n = 18) collected throughout Trinidad and Tobago in 2017 and 2018. Sequences representing nine viruses were identified, including five novel species within Tymovirales, Bunyavirales, Chuviridae, Rhabdoviridae, and Flaviviridae. Thereafter the frequency of detection of viral sequences in individual tick species was investigated.
We employed high throughput sequencing to survey the microbiomes of Ixodes scapularis collected in New York and Connecticut. We examined 197 individual I. scapularis adults and pools from 132 adults ...and 197 nymphs. We detected Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in 56.3% of individual ticks, Anaplasma phagocytophilum in 10.6%, Borrelia miyamotoi in 5%, Babesia microti in 7.6%, and Powassan virus in 3.6%. We did not detect Borrelia mayonii, Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis, Bartonella spp. or pathogenic Babesia species other than B. microti. The most abundant bacterium (65%), and only rickettsial species identified, was the endosymbiont Rickettsia buchneri. A filarial nematode was found in 13.7% of adult ticks. Fourteen viruses were detected including South Bay virus (22%) and blacklegged tick phlebovirus 1 and 2 (73%). This study provides insight into the microbial diversity of I. scapularis in New York State and Connecticut.
Tick-borne diseases are a serious threat to both public and veterinary health. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing to characterize the virome of three tick species implicated in the ...spread of vector-borne disease throughout Croatia. Ten viruses were identified, including seven potential novel species within the viral families
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New technologies enable viral discovery in a diversity of hosts, providing insights into viral evolution. We used one such approach, the virome capture sequencing for vertebrate viruses ...(VirCapSeq-VERT) platform, on 21 samples originating from six dead Maxwell's duikers (
) from Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. We detected the presence of an orthohepadnavirus in one animal and characterized its 3128 bp genome. The highest viral copy numbers were detected in the spleen, followed by the lung, blood, and liver, with the lowest copy numbers in the kidney and heart; the virus was not detected in the jejunum. Viral copy numbers in the blood were in the range known from humans with active chronic infections leading to liver histolytic damage, suggesting this virus could be pathogenic in duikers, though many orthohepadnaviruses appear to be apathogenic in other hosts, precluding a formal test of this hypothesis. The virus was not detected in 29 other dead duiker samples from the Côte d'Ivoire and Central African Republic, suggesting either a spillover event or a low prevalence in these populations. Phylogenetic analysis placed the virus as a divergent member of the mammalian clade of orthohepadnaviruses, though its relationship to other orthohepadnaviruses remains uncertain. This represents the first orthohepadnavirus described in an artiodactyl. We have tentatively named this new member of the genus
(family
), Taï Forest hepadnavirus. Further studies are needed to determine whether it, or some close relatives, are present in a broader range of artiodactyls, including livestock.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is estimated to affect 0.4%–2.5% of the global population. Most cases are unexplained; however, some patients describe an antecedent viral ...infection or response to antiviral medications. We report here a multicenter study for the presence of viral nucleic acid in blood, feces, and saliva of patients with ME/CFS using polymerase chain reaction and high‐throughput sequencing. We found no consistent group‐specific differences other than a lower prevalence of anelloviruses in cases compared to healthy controls. Our findings suggest that future investigations into viral infections in ME/CFS should focus on adaptive immune responses rather than surveillance for viral gene products.
•No pathogens were recovered from any life stage, questing or host-derived ticks.•Virus enrichment and shotgun bacterial metagenomics approaches were utilized and analyzed.•H. longicornis is ...potentially not a vector of tick-borne pathogens in NYC.
Haemaphysalis longicornis, the Asian longhorned tick, is an invasive tick species that has spread rapidly across the northeastern and southeastern regions of the United States in recent years. This invasive pest species, known to transmit several tick-borne pathogens in its native range, is a potential threat to wildlife, livestock, domestic animals, and humans. Questing larval (n = 25), nymph (n = 10), and adult (n = 123), along with host-derived adult (n = 25) H. longicornis ticks were collected from various locations on Staten Island, NY. The pathobiome of each specimen was examined using two different high throughput sequencing approaches, virus enrichment and shotgun metagenomics. An average of 45,828,061 total reads per sample were recovered from the virus enriched samples and an average of 11,381,144 total reads per sample were obtained using shotgun metagenomics. Aside from endogenous viral sequences, no viruses were identified through either approach. Through shotgun metagenomics, Coxiella-like bacteria, Legionella, Sphingomonas, and other bacterial species were recovered. The Coxiella-like agent was ubiquitous and present at high abundances in all samples, suggesting it may be an endosymbiont. The other bacterial agents are not known to be transmitted by ticks. From these analyses, H. longicornis do not appear to host any endemic human tick-borne pathogens in the New York City region.
Hunters are at a higher risk for exposure to zoonotic pathogens due to their close interactions with wildlife and arthropod vectors. In this study, high throughput sequencing was used to explore the ...viromes of two tick species, Amblyomma dissimile and Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, removed from hunted wildlife in Trinidad and Tobago. We identified sequences from 3 new viral species, from the viral families Orthomyxoviridae, Chuviridae and Tetraviridae in A. dissimile.
Viral infections have been suggested as possible triggers for the onset of ulcerative colitis (UC).
We employed VirCapSeq-Vert, a high-throughput sequencing virus capture platform, to examine the ...stool virome of children with newly diagnosed moderate to severe UC. We surveyed fecal samples collected at presentation, after symptom remission, and from a control group diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.
Seventy subjects with UC (mean age 13 years, 45 had moderate symptoms, 25 had severe, 69 of 70 had a Mayo endoscopy subscore 2/3) were studied. We detected a wide range of animal viruses that were taxonomically classified into 12 viral families. A virus was present in 50% of fecal samples collected at presentation, 41% of samples collected after remission, and 40% of samples in our control group. The most frequently identified viruses were diet-based gyroviruses. The UC cohort had a significantly higher prevalence of anelloviruses compared with the control cohort. However, we did not identify a single virus that can be implicated in the onset of UC and did not find an association between UC disease severity and viral presence.
Presence of virus in stool was not associated with the onset of pediatric UC.
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