Virome of Giant Panda-Infesting Ticks Reveals Novel Bunyaviruses and Other Viruses That Are Genetically Close to Those from Giant Pandas.

ABSTRACT: Tick infestations have been reported as one of the factors threatening the health of giant pandas, but studies of viral pathogens carried by ticks feeding on the blood of giant pandas are limited. To assess whether blood-sucking ticks of giant pandas can carry viral pathogens and if so, whether the viruses in ticks are associated with those previously detected in giant panda hosts, we determined the viromes of ticks detached from giant pandas in a field stocking area in Sichuan Province, southwest China. Using viral metagenomics we identified 32 viral species in ticks, half of which (including anellovirus [n = 9], circovirus [n = 3], and gemycircularvirus [n = 4]) showed homology to viruses carried by giant pandas and their associated host species (such as red pandas a

SUBMITTER: Ma R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9430136 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature