Sandfly-transmitted phleboviruses (family Phenuiviridae, order Bunyavirales) are associated with febrile illness and infections of the nervous system in humans. These viruses are almost exclusively found in tropical areas of the New World and restricted to semiarid and temperate zones in the Old World. Here, we discovered seven strains of four previously unknown phleboviruses, named Bogoria virus (BOGV), Embossos virus (EMRV), Kiborgoch virus (KBGV), and Perkerra virus (PERV), as well as the recently discovered Ntepes virus, in sandflies collected in the Kenyan Rift Valley. The genomes have a tripartite organization with conserved termini typical of phleboviruses. LOBV, PERV, and EMBV showed low similarity to known phleboviruses, with less than 55% pairwise amino acid identities in the RNA-directed RNA polymerase (RdRp) proteins, and defined a highly diversified monophyletic clade in sister relationship to the sandfly fever Sicilian serocomplex. All three viruses failed to react with sandfly fever Sicilian virus antisera in recombinant immunofluorescence assays (rIFA), suggesting that the viruses belong to a yet-unknown serogroup. In contrast, KBGV was closely related to Toscana virus (84% identity of RdRp proteins) and shared a most recent common ancestor with the clade comprising sandfly fever Naples and Toscana viruses. KBGV reacted with sandfly fever Naples and Toscana virus antisera in rIFA. The genetic diversity of the detected viruses and their phylogenetic positions implies that the Old World sandfly-borne phleboviruses originated from sub-Saharan Africa. Importantly, our findings suggest that diseases associated with sandfly-borne phlebovirus infections may also affect the Kenyan population.

中文翻译：

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深入了解地中海沙蝇热病毒的进化起源。

沙蝇传播的静脉病毒（Phenuiviridae科，布尼亚病毒目) 与人类的发热性疾病和神经系统感染有关。这些病毒几乎只在新世界的热带地区发现，并仅限于旧世界的半干旱和温带地区。在这里，我们在收集的白蛉中发现了四种以前未知的静脉病毒的七种毒株，分别命名为 Bogoria 病毒 (BOGV)、Embossos 病毒 (EMRV)、Kiborgoch 病毒 (KBGV) 和 Perkerra 病毒 (PERV)，以及最近发现的 Ntepes 病毒在肯尼亚裂谷。基因组具有三方组织，具有静脉病毒典型的保守末端。LOBV、PERV 和 EMBV 显示出与已知静脉病毒的低相似性，在 RNA 指导的 RNA 聚合酶 (RdRp) 蛋白中具有低于 55% 的成对氨基酸同一性，并在与白蛉热西西里血清复合体的姐妹关系中定义了一个高度多样化的单系进化枝。在重组免疫荧光分析 (rIFA) 中，所有三种病毒都未能与白蛉热西西里病毒抗血清发生反应，这表明这些病毒属于一个未知的血清群。相比之下，KBGV 与托斯卡纳病毒密切相关（RdRp 蛋白的同一性为 84%），并且与包含白蛉热那不勒斯病毒和托斯卡纳病毒的进化枝共享一个最近的共同祖先。KBGV 与白蛉热那不勒斯和 rIFA 中的托斯卡纳病毒抗血清反应。检测到的病毒的遗传多样性及其系统发育位置表明旧世界沙蝇传播的静脉病毒起源于撒哈拉以南非洲。重要的，