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

SUBMITTER: Sayler KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4275251 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature