{"id":17044,"date":"2020-11-23T13:08:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T05:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tbenews.com\/tbe\/?p=17044"},"modified":"2020-11-23T16:48:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T08:48:13","slug":"snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tbenews.com\/tbe\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapshot week 48\/2020<br>Interview with Dr. Elyes Zhioua, Tunis"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Interview with Elyes Zhioua, Tunis, Tunisia, about the detection of TBE virus in ticks collected in Tunisia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Congratulations, Dr. Zhioua, on your recent article published in Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases. This is for the first time that the TBE virus has been detected in ticks collected in Africa. What made you look for TBE virus in African ticks?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>I got my Master and my PhD at the Institute of Zoology, University of Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Andr\u00e9 Aeschlimann and Prof. Lise Gern on the eco-epidemiology of Lyme disease. As a side project, I was interested on the presence of <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em> in Tunisia. We showed that the geographical distribution of <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em> is Northwestern Tunisia. In addition, we isolated for the first time <em>Borrelia lusitaniae<\/em> from field-collected <em>I. ricinus<\/em> from Tunisia. Following these findings, I was interested to study the presence of TBE in North Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Did you collect <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em> ticks in certain biotopes\/microclimatic zones \u2013 e.g. under old big trees with a lot of shade, grass land close to ponds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>The geographical distribution of <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em> is limited to the humid bio-geographical areas of Northwestern Tunisia. The biotope is characterized by oak forest with rich underground vegetation and rich biodiversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Do you have plans to examine also other life stages of ticks, especially nymphs, for TBE virus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>In the near future, we are interested to examine nymphs for the presence of TBE virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Do you have plans to analyze sera from goat, sheep, or other farm animals for TBE specific antibodies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>From an eco-epidemiological point of view, it is important to analyze sera from domestic and wild animals and human population at risk such as forestry workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Do you have plans to isolate the Tunisian TBE virus strain?<br>It would be of interest to study its virulence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>Yes, we are planning to isolate TBE virus from field collected <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Over the past years, a special topic has become the importation to Europe of \u201eexotic \u201cticks like <em>Hylomma marginum<\/em> and the analysis of pathogens like <em>Rickettsia<\/em> and Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus in these ticks imported by birds. Does the northwestern region of Tunisia lie within the route of migratory birds? Do you think that the virus may have been imported by birds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>The North of Tunisia and the South of Italy is a natural bridge connecting continental Europe to North Africa and a common pathway of migratory birds infested mainly by ticks including <em>Ixodes ricinus<\/em> and <em>Hyalomma marginatum<\/em>. It was shown that <em>Hyalomma marginatum<\/em> collected from migratory birds was infested with CCHFv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Would it be possible to retrospectively analyze cases of encephalitis or meningitis in individuals living in northwestern Tunisia &#8211; e.g. by analyzing sera of patients for TBE antibodies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elyes Zhioua<br>It is of major epidemiological importance to perform such studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Br\u00f6ker<br>Thanks a lot, Dr. Zhioua, it was a pleasure to have this interview with you.<br>Best wishes for the future.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interview with Elyes Zhioua, Tunis, Tunisia, about the detection of TBE virus in ticks collected in Tunisia Michael Br\u00f6kerCongratulations, Dr. Zhioua, on your recent article published in Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases. This is for the first time that the TBE virus has been detected in ticks collected in Africa. What made you look for TBE virus in African ticks? Elyes ZhiouaI got my Master and my PhD at the Institute of Zoology, University of Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Andr\u00e9 Aeschlimann and Prof. Lise Gern on the eco-epidemiology of Lyme disease. As a side project, I was interested on the presence of Ixodes ricinus in Tunisia. We showed that the geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is Northwestern Tunisia. In addition, we isolated for the first time Borrelia lusitaniae from field-collected I. ricinus from Tunisia. Following these findings, I was interested to study the presence of TBE in North Africa. Michael Br\u00f6kerDid you collect Ixodes ricinus ticks in certain biotopes\/microclimatic zones \u2013 e.g. under old big trees with a lot of shade, grass land close to ponds? Elyes ZhiouaThe geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is limited to the humid bio-geographical areas of Northwestern Tunisia. The biotope is characterized by oak forest with rich underground vegetation and rich biodiversity. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to examine also other life stages of ticks, especially nymphs, for TBE virus? Elyes ZhiouaIn the near future, we are interested to examine nymphs for the presence of TBE virus. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to analyze sera from goat, sheep, or other farm animals for TBE specific antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaFrom an eco-epidemiological point of view, it is important to analyze sera from domestic and wild animals and human population at risk such as forestry workers. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to isolate the Tunisian TBE virus strain?It would be of interest to study its virulence. Elyes ZhiouaYes, we are planning to isolate TBE virus from field collected Ixodes ricinus. Michael Br\u00f6kerOver the past years, a special topic has become the importation to Europe of \u201eexotic \u201cticks like Hylomma marginum and the analysis of pathogens like Rickettsia and Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus in these ticks imported by birds. Does the northwestern region of Tunisia lie within the route of migratory birds? Do you think that the virus may have been imported by birds? Elyes ZhiouaThe North of Tunisia and the South of Italy is a natural bridge connecting continental Europe to North Africa and a common pathway of migratory birds infested mainly by ticks including Ixodes ricinus and Hyalomma marginatum. It was shown that Hyalomma marginatum collected from migratory birds was infested with CCHFv. Michael Br\u00f6kerWould it be possible to retrospectively analyze cases of encephalitis or meningitis in individuals living in northwestern Tunisia &#8211; e.g. by analyzing sera of patients for TBE antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaIt is of major epidemiological importance to perform such studies. Michael Br\u00f6kerThanks a lot, Dr. Zhioua, it was a pleasure to have this interview with you.Best wishes for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1354,"featured_media":12864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[582,357,580],"coauthors":[81],"class_list":["post-17044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-snapshot","tag-interview","tag-ixodes-ricinus","tag-tunisia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Snapshot week 48\/2020Interview with Dr. Elyes Zhioua, Tunis - TBE Book<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tbenews.com\/tbe\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Snapshot week 48\/2020Interview with Dr. Elyes Zhioua, Tunis - TBE Book\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Interview with Elyes Zhioua, Tunis, Tunisia, about the detection of TBE virus in ticks collected in Tunisia Michael Br\u00f6kerCongratulations, Dr. Zhioua, on your recent article published in Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases. This is for the first time that the TBE virus has been detected in ticks collected in Africa. What made you look for TBE virus in African ticks? Elyes ZhiouaI got my Master and my PhD at the Institute of Zoology, University of Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Andr\u00e9 Aeschlimann and Prof. Lise Gern on the eco-epidemiology of Lyme disease. As a side project, I was interested on the presence of Ixodes ricinus in Tunisia. We showed that the geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is Northwestern Tunisia. In addition, we isolated for the first time Borrelia lusitaniae from field-collected I. ricinus from Tunisia. Following these findings, I was interested to study the presence of TBE in North Africa. Michael Br\u00f6kerDid you collect Ixodes ricinus ticks in certain biotopes\/microclimatic zones \u2013 e.g. under old big trees with a lot of shade, grass land close to ponds? Elyes ZhiouaThe geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is limited to the humid bio-geographical areas of Northwestern Tunisia. The biotope is characterized by oak forest with rich underground vegetation and rich biodiversity. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to examine also other life stages of ticks, especially nymphs, for TBE virus? Elyes ZhiouaIn the near future, we are interested to examine nymphs for the presence of TBE virus. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to analyze sera from goat, sheep, or other farm animals for TBE specific antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaFrom an eco-epidemiological point of view, it is important to analyze sera from domestic and wild animals and human population at risk such as forestry workers. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to isolate the Tunisian TBE virus strain?It would be of interest to study its virulence. Elyes ZhiouaYes, we are planning to isolate TBE virus from field collected Ixodes ricinus. Michael Br\u00f6kerOver the past years, a special topic has become the importation to Europe of \u201eexotic \u201cticks like Hylomma marginum and the analysis of pathogens like Rickettsia and Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus in these ticks imported by birds. Does the northwestern region of Tunisia lie within the route of migratory birds? Do you think that the virus may have been imported by birds? Elyes ZhiouaThe North of Tunisia and the South of Italy is a natural bridge connecting continental Europe to North Africa and a common pathway of migratory birds infested mainly by ticks including Ixodes ricinus and Hyalomma marginatum. It was shown that Hyalomma marginatum collected from migratory birds was infested with CCHFv. Michael Br\u00f6kerWould it be possible to retrospectively analyze cases of encephalitis or meningitis in individuals living in northwestern Tunisia &#8211; e.g. by analyzing sera of patients for TBE antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaIt is of major epidemiological importance to perform such studies. Michael Br\u00f6kerThanks a lot, Dr. Zhioua, it was a pleasure to have this interview with you.Best wishes for the future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tbenews.com\/tbe\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TBE Book\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-23T05:08:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-23T08:48:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tbenews.com\/tbe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/TBE-Snapshots.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Br\u00f6ker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Br\u00f6ker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shaqeez\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2bc2ab1f56f93257537a0ce8de903224\"},\"headline\":\"Snapshot week 48\\\/2020 Interview with Dr. Elyes Zhioua, Tunis\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-23T05:08:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-23T08:48:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":520,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/11\\\/TBE-Snapshots.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Interview\",\"Ixodes ricinus\",\"tunisia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Snapshot\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tbenews.com\\\/tbe\\\/snapshot-week-48-2020interview-with-dr-elyes-zhioua-tunis\\\/\",\"name\":\"Snapshot week 48\\\/2020 Interview with Dr. Elyes Zhioua, Tunis - 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This is for the first time that the TBE virus has been detected in ticks collected in Africa. What made you look for TBE virus in African ticks? Elyes ZhiouaI got my Master and my PhD at the Institute of Zoology, University of Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland under the supervision of Prof. Andr\u00e9 Aeschlimann and Prof. Lise Gern on the eco-epidemiology of Lyme disease. As a side project, I was interested on the presence of Ixodes ricinus in Tunisia. We showed that the geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is Northwestern Tunisia. In addition, we isolated for the first time Borrelia lusitaniae from field-collected I. ricinus from Tunisia. Following these findings, I was interested to study the presence of TBE in North Africa. Michael Br\u00f6kerDid you collect Ixodes ricinus ticks in certain biotopes\/microclimatic zones \u2013 e.g. under old big trees with a lot of shade, grass land close to ponds? Elyes ZhiouaThe geographical distribution of Ixodes ricinus is limited to the humid bio-geographical areas of Northwestern Tunisia. The biotope is characterized by oak forest with rich underground vegetation and rich biodiversity. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to examine also other life stages of ticks, especially nymphs, for TBE virus? Elyes ZhiouaIn the near future, we are interested to examine nymphs for the presence of TBE virus. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to analyze sera from goat, sheep, or other farm animals for TBE specific antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaFrom an eco-epidemiological point of view, it is important to analyze sera from domestic and wild animals and human population at risk such as forestry workers. Michael Br\u00f6kerDo you have plans to isolate the Tunisian TBE virus strain?It would be of interest to study its virulence. Elyes ZhiouaYes, we are planning to isolate TBE virus from field collected Ixodes ricinus. Michael Br\u00f6kerOver the past years, a special topic has become the importation to Europe of \u201eexotic \u201cticks like Hylomma marginum and the analysis of pathogens like Rickettsia and Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic fever virus in these ticks imported by birds. Does the northwestern region of Tunisia lie within the route of migratory birds? Do you think that the virus may have been imported by birds? Elyes ZhiouaThe North of Tunisia and the South of Italy is a natural bridge connecting continental Europe to North Africa and a common pathway of migratory birds infested mainly by ticks including Ixodes ricinus and Hyalomma marginatum. It was shown that Hyalomma marginatum collected from migratory birds was infested with CCHFv. Michael Br\u00f6kerWould it be possible to retrospectively analyze cases of encephalitis or meningitis in individuals living in northwestern Tunisia &#8211; e.g. by analyzing sera of patients for TBE antibodies? Elyes ZhiouaIt is of major epidemiological importance to perform such studies. 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