@article{PAR00014570,
  title = {{P}hleboviruses associated with sand flies in arid bio-geographical areas of {C}entral {T}unisia},
  author = {{D}achraoui, {K}. and {F}ares, {W}. and {B}ichaud, {L}. and {B}arhoumi, {W}. and {B}eier, {J}. {C}. and {D}erbali, {M}. and {C}herni, {S}. and de {L}amballerie, {X}avier and {C}helbi, {I}. and {C}harrel, {R}. {N}. and {Z}hioua, {E}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{A}n entomological investigation was carried out in 2014 at two sites located in {C}entral {T}unisia, one irrigated and another non-irrigated situated in arid bio-geographical areas. {S}and flies of the subgenus {L}arroussius namely {P}hlebotomus perfiliewi, {P}hlebotomus perniciosus, and {P}hlebotomus longicuspis are the most abundant sand fly species in the irrigated site. {H}owever, in the non-irrigated site, {P}hlebotomus papatasi of the {P}hlebotomus genus is the most abundant species. {A} total of 3191 sand flies were collected and pooled with up to 30 specimens per pool based on sex, trapping location and collection date, were tested for the presence of phleboviruses by nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in the polymerase gene and sequenced. {O}f a total of 117 pools, 4 were positive, yielding a minimum infection rate of sand flies with phleboviruses of 0.12%. {P}hylogenetic analysis performed using partial nucleotide and amino acid sequence in the polymerase gene showed that these phleboviruses belonged to four different clusters corresponding to {T}oscana virus ({TOSV}), {S}addaguia virus ({SADV}), {S}andfly {F}ever {S}icilian {V}irus ({SFSV}) and {U}tique virus ({UTIV}). {T}his study provides more evidence that the abundance of {P}. perfiliewi is associated with the development of irrigation in arid bio-geographical areas of {C}entral {T}unisia which may have led to the emergence of phleboviruses. {W}e report the first detection of {TOSV} from sand flies collected from {C}entral {T}unisia.},
  keywords = {{S}and flies ; {P}hlebovirus ; {T}oscana virus ; {S}addaguia virus ; {S}andfly fever ; sicilian virus ; {U}tique virus ; {P}hlebotomus ; {E}merging ; {M}editerranean basin ; {TUNISIE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{A}cta {T}ropica},
  volume = {158},
  numero = {},
  pages = {13--19},
  ISSN = {0001-706{X}},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.actatropica.2016.02.008},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00014570},
}