Phleboviruses

Phlebovirus is one of five genera of the family Bunyaviridae. Its members are class V viruses with a segmented negative-strand RNA genome.

The genome comprises 3 segments, one of which uses an ambisense coding strategy. The small segment (S) codes for the viral N protein and a non structural protein. The medium sized segment (M) codes for a precursor of the viral glycoproteins and non-structural components. The product of the largest segment (L) is the viral RNA polymerase.

The Phlebovirus genus currently comprises 68 antigenically distinct serotypes, only a few of which have been studied. Of these 68 serotypes, eight of them have been linked to disease in humans, they are: Alenquer virus, Candiru virus, Chagres virus, Naples virus, Punta Toro virus, Rift Valley fever, Sicilian virus and Toscana virus.

The 68 known serotypes are divided into two groups; the Phlebotomus fever viruses (sandfly group) are transmitted by sandflies and comprise 55 members and the Uukuniemi group (transmitted by ticks) contains 13 members.

They cause symptoms ranging from short self limiting fevers, such as pappataci fever, to encephalitis and fatal haemorrhagic fever.

External links

• Proteomics computational analyses suggest that the carboxyl terminal glycoproteins of Bunyaviruses are class II viral fusion protein (beta-penetrenes)
• Course BS335: Virology
• Phylogenetic relationships among members of the genus Phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae) based on partial M segment sequence analyses
• Viralzone: Phlebovirus