Powassan Virus Lineage I in Field-Collected Dermacentor variabilis Ticks, New York, USA

Abstract

Powassan virus is a tickborne flavivirus that can cause lethal or debilitating neurologic illness. It is canonically transmitted by Ixodes spp. ticks but might spill over to sympatric Dermacentor species. We detected Powassan virus lineage I from a pool of field-collected D. variabilis ticks in New York, USA.

Keywords: Dermacentor variabilis; New York; Powassan virus; United States; dog tick; ticks; vector-borne infections; viruses.

Figure

Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree of Powassan virus lineage I and II from Dermacentor variabilis ticks collected in New York, USA, and reference sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of the coding sequence (genome positions 108–10,352) of 29 publicly available Powassan lineage I and II genomes. Red circle and bold text indicate the virus sequenced in this study from the D. variabilis ticks; the virus is most closely related to other lineage I sequences from ticks in New York. Sequence names consist of host; location; GenBank accession number; year.