Genomic analysis of Salehabad virus obtained from the field after a 64-year silence
This study reports the first re-isolation of a wild-type Salehabad virus (SALV) since 1959, from a pool of male sand flies collected in Türkiye in August 2023. The isolate and the 1959 prototype strain shared 86-92% nucleotide identity across the four coding sequences but 95-99% amino acid identity; for the L protein, 12% nucleotide divergence corresponded to 1% amino acid divergence. Because male sand flies do not blood-feed, this isolation indicates transmission between sand flies by a route other than blood-feeding. These findings highlight the cryptic circulation of SALV and underscore the importance of monitoring historically overlooked phleboviruses.
Authors
- Shinji Kasai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3837-6551)
- Kentaro Itokawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1300-9883)
- Chizu Sanjoba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4581-4038)
- Süha Kenan Arserim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9174-6291)
- Haruhiko Isawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9087-9500)
- Daisuke Kobayashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1043-6903)
- Metin Pekagirbas
- Kardelen Yetismis
- Yusuf Ozbel
- Seray Toz
Institutions
- Manisa Celal Bayar University (TR)
- Ege University (TR)
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Adnan Menderes University (TR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Archives of Virology
- Published
- 2026-07-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-026-06701-6
- Primary Topic
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science