SCREENING FOR TICK-BORNE AND TICK-ASSOCIATED VIRUSES IN TICKS COLLECTED IN SARDINIA, ITALY

Ticks are important vectors of many pathogens, including arboviruses also known as tickborne viruses (TBVs). Climate changes are promoting ticks and TBVs spread with the diffusion of new pathogens, as the CCHFV that in the last decade colonized the Southwest Europe, as indicated by human cases reported in Spain and the evidence of virus circulation in animals of Corsica (France). Sardinia is an Italian island close to Corsica, it is a site of intense passage of birds migrating along major routes between Africa and Europe, thus representing a site potentially exposed to the risk for introduction of CCHFV or other TBVs. This study was designed to determine the presence of TBVs and/or tick-associated viruses in ticks collected in Sardinia. A total of 217 ticks were collected from different districts belonging to the north western, south-west and central Sardinia, all areas are of great naturalistic importance and show a wide diversity in geology, vegetation, landscape features and agro-ecology. Ticks were collected from domestic animals, wild mammals, and vegetation. Three ticks were also collected from human. Morphological identification of ticks was performed by taxonomic keys. Each sample was longitudinally incised, and only one half of tick was homogenated by mechanical tissue lyser. Nucleic acids were extracted with (Promega). One aliquote was subject to one-step real-time RT-PCR for the detection of CCHFV, using AgPath-ID One-Step RT-PCR Kit (Thermo Scientific). Each sample was also tested for nairoviruses, phleboviruses and flaviviruses using a Pan-PCR approach. Preliminary results did not show the presence of CCHFV while the Pan-PCR-based screening is still ongoing and results will be presented.