Whole genome phylogenetic investigation of a West Nile virus strain isolated from a tick sampled from livestock in north eastern Kenya

dc.contributor.authorLwande, Olivia Wesula
dc.contributor.authorVenter, Marietjie
dc.contributor.authorLutomiah, Joel
dc.contributor.authorMichuki, George
dc.contributor.authorRumberia, Cecilia
dc.contributor.authorGakuya, Francis
dc.contributor.authorObanda, Vincent
dc.contributor.authorTigoi, Caroline
dc.contributor.authorOdhiambo, Collins
dc.contributor.authorNindo, Fredrick
dc.contributor.authorSymekher, Samwel
dc.contributor.authorSang, Rosemary
dc.date.accessioned2015-06-19T06:31:00Z
dc.date.available2015-06-19T06:31:00Z
dc.date.issued2014-11-28
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND : West Nile virus (WNV) has a wide geographical distribution and has been associated to cause neurological disease in humans and horses. Mosquitoes are the traditional vectors for WNV; however, the virus has also been isolated from tick species in North Africa and Europe which could be a means of introduction and spread of the virus over long distances through migratory birds. Although WNV has been isolated in mosquitoes in Kenya, paucity of genetic and pathogenicity data exists. We previously reported the isolation of WNV from ticks collected from livestock and wildlife in Ijara District of Kenya, a hotspot for arbovirus activity. Here we report the full genome sequence and phylogenetic investigation of their origin and relation to strains from other regions. METHODS : A total of 10,488 ticks were sampled from animal hosts, classified to species and processed in pools of up to eight ticks per pool. Virus screening was performed by cell culture, RT-PCR and sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out to determine the evolutionary relationships of our isolate. RESULTS : Among other viruses, WNV was isolated from a pool of Rhipicephalus pulchellus sampled from cattle, sequenced and submitted to GenBank (Accession number: KC243146). Comparative analysis with 27 different strains revealed that our isolate belongs to lineage 1 and clustered relatively closely to isolates from North Africa and Europe, Russia and the United States. Overall, Bayesian analysis based on nucleotide sequences showed that lineage 1 strains including the Kenyan strain had diverged 200 years ago from lineage 2 strains of southern Africa. Ijara strain collected from a tick sampled on livestock was closest to another Kenyan strain and had diverged 20 years ago from strains detected in Morocco and Europe and 30 years ago from strains identified in the USA. CONCLUSION : To our knowledge, this is the first characterized WNV strain isolated from R. pulchellus. The epidemiological role of this tick in WNV transmission and dissemination remains equivocal but presents tick verses mosquito virus transmission has been neglected. Genetic data of this strain suggest that lineage 1 strains from Africa could be dispersed through tick vectors by wild migratory birds to Europe and beyond.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2015en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.parasitesandvectors.comen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLwande, OW, Venter, M, Lutomiah, J, Michuki, G, Rumberia, C, Gakuya, F, Obanda, V, Tigoi, C, Odhiambo, C, Nindo, F, Symekher, S & Sang, R 2014, 'Whole genome phylogenetic investigation of a West Nile virus strain isolated from a tick sampled from livestock in north eastern Kenya', Parasites and Vectors, vol. 7, art. #542, pp. 1-10.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1756-3305
dc.identifier.other10.1186/s13071-014-0542-2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/45605
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.rights© 2014 Lwande et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectKenyaen_ZA
dc.subjectLivestocken_ZA
dc.subjectWildlifeen_ZA
dc.subjectWest Nile virus (WNV)en_ZA
dc.subjectTicksen_ZA
dc.titleWhole genome phylogenetic investigation of a West Nile virus strain isolated from a tick sampled from livestock in north eastern Kenyaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Lwande_Whole_2014.pdf
Size:
3.34 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: