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. 2021 May;27(5):1482-1485.
doi: 10.3201/eid2705.204598.

Emergence of Toscana Virus, Romania, 2017-2018

Corneliu P Popescu, Ani I Cotar, Sorin Dinu, Mihaela Zaharia, Gratiela Tardei, Emanoil Ceausu, Daniela Badescu, Simona Ruta, Cornelia S Ceianu, Simin A Florescu

Emergence of Toscana Virus, Romania, 2017-2018

Corneliu P Popescu et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 May.

Abstract

We describe a series of severe neuroinvasive infections caused by Toscana virus, identified by real-time reverse transcription PCR testing, in 8 hospitalized patients in Bucharest, Romania, during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018. Of 8 patients, 5 died. Sequencing showed that the circulating virus belonged to lineage A.

Keywords: Phenuiviridae; Phlebovirus; Romania; TOSV; Toscana phlebovirus; Toscana virus; adults; encephalitis; phylogenetic analysis; viruses.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
Phylogenetic tree of TOSV identified in 8 patients, Bucharest and surrounding area, Romania, 2017–2018, and reference sequences. Red diamonds indicate sequence obtained in this study; the other sequences included in the analysis were retrieved from GenBank. Numbers at nodes represent bootstrap percentages (values <50% are not shown). Phylogenetic relatedness was inferred from a 111-nt sequence of nucleocapsid gene, small segment (positions 1392–1502, numbering according to GenBank accession no. NC_006318.1) by using the neighbor-joining, Kimura 2-parameter method and 1,000 bootstrap replicates. SFNS, sandfly fever Naples virus; TOSV, Toscana virus.
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