Novel phleboviruses detected in ticks, Greece

Since 2009, when severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus and Heartland virus have been identified and associated with disease in humans, the interest on tick-borne phleboviruses is increasing rapidly. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of tick-borne phleboviruses in Greece and compare them with respective ones detected worldwide. Ticks collected from goats and sheep in 60 sites of 13 regional units of Greece were grouped in pools (1-3 ticks per pool) and tested for the presence of phleboviral RNA. Six of 210 pools were positive; they consisted of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks collected from sheep in 3 regional units of Greece: Pella (2/30, 6.7%), Imathia (2/21, 9.5%), and Ioannina (2/28, 7.1%). The overall tick minimum infection rate was 2.1%. The sequences of the Greek phlebovirus (provisionally named Antigone virus) form a distinct clade in the tick-borne phleboviruses, differing by >40% from the currently known phleboviruses. Any probable implication of these viruses to public health remains to be elucidated.