Kuivanen et al.
Detection of novel tick-borne pathogen, Alongshan virus, in Ixodes ricinus ticks, south-eastern Finland, 2019
Euro Surveill. 2019; 24 (27): pii=1900394.https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.27.1900394
About nine years ago, a novel virus group, the Jingmen viruses – Alongshan virus (ALS virus) and Jingmen tick virus (JMT virus) – has been detected in Rhipicephalus microplus ticks in China and these viruses have been associated with human disease. The Jingman virus group shares the genome organization of four segments, two of which have similarities to the NS3 and NS5 proteins of non-segmented RNA viruses in the genus Flavivirus.
Now, full genome of JMT virus strains have been detected in ticks collected in southern Finland (Kotka archipelago) that conglomerate with AlS virus from Heilongjian Province, China and form a cluster distinct from the other JMT virus group. Trials to isolate the virus in various cells were not successful. Human sera, originally analyzed for TBE, have been tested for antibodies directed against recombinant ASLV viruses and for JMT virus RNA. However, no specific antibodies nor specific RNA could be detected in 900 Finnish patients suspected for TBE virus infection in recent years. The presence of ALS viruses in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in Europe warrants further investigations in their epidemiology and role as human pathogen.