SRA

Ticks transmit viruses responsible for severe emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and some of them have a significant impact on public health. In Japan, only little has been known about the distribution of tick-borne viruses. In this study, we collected and tested ticks to investigate the distribution of tick-borne arboviruses in Kyoto, Japan, and first isolated Thogoto virus (THOV) in the Far-Eastern Asia. The Japanese isolate was genetically distinct from the cluster of the other isolates from Africa, Europe and Middle Eastern. Various cell lines derived from mammal and tick showed susceptibility to the isolate, but the isolate showed no pathogenicity in mice model. These information will contribute to understand the distribution and ecology of THOV.