Bat Flies of the Family Streblidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) Host Relatives of Medically and Agriculturally Important "Bat-Associated" Viruses.

ABSTRACT: Bat flies (Hippoboscoidea: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites of bats. We collected streblid bat flies from the New World (México) and the Old World (Uganda), and used metagenomics to identify their viruses. In México, we found méjal virus (Rhabdoviridae; Vesiculovirus), Amate virus (Reoviridae: Orbivirus), and two unclassified viruses of invertebrates. Méjal virus is related to emerging zoonotic encephalitis viruses and to the agriculturally important vesicular stomatitis viruses (VSV). Amate virus and its sister taxon from a bat are most closely related to mosquito- and tick-borne orbiviruses, suggesting a previously unrecognized orbivirus transmission cycle involving bats and bat flies. In Uganda, we found mam

SUBMITTER: Ramirez-Martinez MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8150819 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature