An orthobunyavirus termed Fort Sherman virus (FSV) was isolated in 1985 from a febrile US soldier in Panama, yet potential animal reservoirs remained unknown. We investigated sera from 192 clinically healthy peri‐domestic animals sampled in northeastern Brazil during 2014–2018 by broadly reactive RT‐PCR for orthobunyavirus RNA, including 50 cattle, 57 sheep, 35 goats and 50 horses. One horse sampled in 2018 was positive (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.01–3.2) at 6.2 × 10³ viral RNA copies/mL. Genomic comparisons following virus isolation in Vero cells and deep sequencing revealed high identity of translated amino acid sequences between the new orthobunyavirus and the Panamanian FSV prototype (genes: L, 98.8%; M, 83.5%; S, 100%), suggesting these viruses are conspecific. Database comparisons revealed even higher genomic identity between the Brazilian FSV and taxonomically unassigned Argentinian mosquito‐ and horse‐derived viruses sampled in 1965, 1982 and 2013 with only 1.1% maximum translated amino acid distances across viral genes, suggesting the Argentinian viruses were also distinct FSV strains. The Panamanian FSV strain was an M gene reassortant relative to all Southern American FSV strains, clustering phylogenetically with Cache Valley virus (CVV). Mean dN/dS ratios among FSV genes ranged from 0.03 to 0.07, compatible with strong purifying selection. FSV‐specific neutralizing antibodies occurred at relatively high end‐point titres in the range of 1:300 in 22.0% of horses (11 out of 50 animals), 8.0% of cattle (4/50 animals), 7.0% of sheep (4/57 animals) and 2.9% of goats (1/35 animals). High specificity of serologic testing was suggested by significantly higher overall FSV‐specific compared to CVV‐ and Bunyamwera virus‐specific end‐point titres (p  = .009), corroborating a broad vertebrate host range within peri‐domestic animals. Growth kinetics using mosquito‐, midge‐ and sandfly‐derived cell lines suggested Aedes mosquitos as potential vectors. Our findings highlight the occurrence of FSV across a geographic range exceeding 7,000 km, surprising genomic conservation across a time span exceeding 50 years, M gene‐based reassortment events, and the existence of multiple animal hosts of FSV.

中文翻译：

---

鉴定新世界人畜共患的原虫病毒Fort Sherman病毒的动物宿主。

1985年，从巴拿马的一名发热的美国士兵中分离出一种称为Fort Sherman病毒（FSV）的正统病毒，但潜在的动物储存库仍然未知。我们对2014年至2018年在巴西东北部抽样的192例临床健康的家畜周围动物的血清进行了调查，方法是对正念珠菌RNA进行广泛反应的RT-PCR，包括50头牛，57头绵羊，35头山羊和50匹马。2018年采样的一匹马在6.2×10 ³时呈阳性（0.5％; 95％CI，0.01–3.2）病毒RNA拷贝数/ mL。在Vero细胞中分离病毒并进行深度测序后的基因组比较显示，新的正布尼亚病毒和巴拿马FSV原型之间翻译的氨基酸序列具有高度同一性（基因：L，98.8％； M，83.5％； S，100％），提示这些病毒是特定的。数据库比较显示，巴西FSV与1965年，1982年和2013年抽样的未分类的阿根廷蚊和马来源的病毒之间具有更高的基因组同一性，跨病毒基因的最大翻译氨基酸距离仅为1.1％，这表明阿根廷病毒也是独特的FSV株。巴拿马型FSV株是相对于所有南美FSV株的M基因重配体，与Cache Valley病毒（CVV）系统发生聚类。FSV基因之间的平均dN / dS比在0.03至0.07之间，与强大的净化选择兼容。FSV特异性中和抗体的滴度相对较高，在1：300的范围内发生，占22.0％的马（50只动物中的11只），8.0％的牛（4/50只动物），7.0％的绵羊（4 / 57只动物）和2.9％的山羊（1/35只动物）。与CVV和Bunyamwera病毒特异性终点滴度相比，总体FSV特异性高得多表明血清学检测具有高度特异性（p  = .009），证实了家畜周围动物的广泛脊椎动物宿主范围。使用蚊子，蚊子和沙蝇来源的细胞系的生长动力学表明，伊蚊是潜在的媒介。我们的发现强调了FSV在超过7,000 km的地理范围内的发生，超过50年的惊人基因组保护，基于M基因的重排事件以及多个FSV动物宿主的存在。