Characterization of three new insect-specific flaviviruses: Their relationship to the mosquito-borne flavivirus pathogens

• Main Authors: Guzmán, Hilda, Contreras-Gutiérrez, María Angélica, Travassos Da Rosa,, Amelia P.A., Nunes, Márcio Roberto Texeira, Cardoso, Jedson Ferreira, Popov, Vsevolod L., Young, Katherine I., Savit, Chelsea, Wood, Thomas Gordon, Widen, Steven G., Watts, Douglas M., Hanley, Kathryn A., Perera, David, Fish, Durland, Vasilakis, Nikos, Tesh, Robert B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2018
• Subjects: QR355 Virology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/20143/2/Characterization.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/20143/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85041499285&doi=10.4269%2fajtmh.17-0350&partnerID=40&md5=3eb8b2faa0176fdb058c439f26d4d8d3

Three novel insect-specific flaviviruses, isolated from mosquitoes collected in Peru, Malaysia (Sarawak), and the United States, are characterized. The new viruses, designated La Tina, Kampung Karu, and Long Pine Key, respectively, are antigenically and phylogenetically more similar to the mosquito-borne flavivirus pathogens, than to the classical insect-specific viruses like cell fusing agent and Culex flavivirus. The potential implications of this relationship and the possible uses of these and other arbovirus-related insect-specific flaviviruses are reviewed. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.