''Tahyna orthobunyavirus'' ("TAHV") is a viral

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

classified in the

California encephalitis virus ''California encephalitis orthobunyavirus'' type strain California encephalitis virus was discovered in Kern County, California, and causes encephalitis in humans. Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain that can cause minor symptoms, ...

(CEV) serogroup of the ''

Orthobunyavirus ''Orthobunyavirus'' is a genus of the '' Peribunyaviridae'' family in the order ''Bunyavirales''. There are currently ~170 viruses recognised in this genus. These have been assembled into 103 species and 20 serogroups. The name ''Orthobunyavirus ...

'' family in the order

Bunyavirales ''Bunyavirales'' is an order of segmented negative-strand RNA viruses with mainly tripartite genomes. Member viruses infect arthropods, plants, protozoans, and vertebrates. It is the only order in the class ''Ellioviricetes''. The name ''Bunyavi ...

, which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and possibly China. TAHV is maintained in an

enzootic Enzootic is the non-human equivalent of endemic and means, in a broad sense, "belonging to" or "native to", "characteristic of", or "prevalent in" a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; native to an area or scope. It also has ...

life cycle involving several species of

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

vectors, with

hares Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...

, rabbits,

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

s, and rodents serving as amplifying

hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places *Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *Michel Host ( ...

History

In 1958 a virus transmitted by a mosquito was isolated in the Slovak village of Ťahyňa. The virus was unknown in Europe and was found to belong to the California group and eventually found to occur in most European countries. In human patients, infection with the Tahyna virus appears with influenza-like symptoms. In some cases,

meningoencephalitis Meningoencephalitis (; from ; ; and the medical suffix ''-itis'', "inflammation"), also known as herpes meningoencephalitis, is a medical condition that simultaneously resembles both meningitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the menin ...

and atypical

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

were observed but no fatal cases have been reported. There are no significant clinical differences between Tahnya and Inkoo viruses.

Signs and symptoms

TAHV causes a non-fatal flu-like illness in humans and is sometimes called Valtice fever. Human TAHV infections generally occur in summer and early fall, with symptoms of

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...

, headache, malaise,

conjunctivitis Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation of the outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness, or itchiness may occur. The ...

pharyngitis Pharyngitis is inflammation of the back of the throat, known as the pharynx. It typically results in a sore throat and fever. Other symptoms may include a Rhinorrhea, runny nose, cough, headache, difficulty swallowing, swollen lymph nodes, and a ...

, and

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

. The incubation period of the virus lasts about 3 to 7 days. TAHV disease can progress to involve the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

, but fatalities have not been reported. Human infections are common in

areas, with

neutralizing antibodies A neutralizing antibody (NAb) is an antibody that defends a cell from a pathogen or infectious particle by neutralizing any effect it has biologically. Neutralization renders the particle no longer infectious or pathogenic. Neutralizing antibod ...

present in 60 to 80% of the elderly population.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of orthobunyaviruses is based on

serology Serology is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in response to an infection (against a given mic ...

, either as a rise in IgG-antibody titers, or the presence of IgM antibodies.

RT-PCR Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA (in this context called complementary DNA or cDNA) and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase ch ...

methods are under development to detect viral RNA in cerebrospinal fluid samples of patients with encephalitis.

Genetics

Genetic analysis of three complete TAHV

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...

s has demonstrated a high level of conservation (99%) at the

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecule ...

and

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

level, despite the fact that the viruses were collected from temporally distinct regions spanning a 10 to 26 year period. This level of genetic stability is remarkable and suggests a strong environmental pressure to maintain specific genetic compositions.

Structure

These enveloped viruses have a three-segmented negative-strand RNA genome. of approximately 13 kb in total length. The three segments are designated by their size, small (S), medium (M), and large (L) and are complexed with

nucleoprotein Nucleoproteins are proteins conjugated with nucleic acids (either DNA or RNA). Typical nucleoproteins include ribosomes, nucleosomes and viral nucleocapsid proteins. Structures Nucleoproteins tend to be positively charged, facilitating int ...

to form three separate nucleocapsids. The 3' and 5' untranslated regions (UTR) are complementary and highly conserved. The S segment encodes two proteins: the nucleoprotein (N) and a non-structural protein (NS_s) which inhibits

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

via inhibiting host cell

RNA polymerase II RNA polymerase II (RNAP II and Pol II) is a multiprotein complex that transcribes DNA into precursors of messenger RNA (mRNA) and most small nuclear RNA (snRNA) and microRNA. It is one of the three RNAP enzymes found in the nucleus of eukaryo ...

resulting in decreased interferon (INF) induction. The M segment encodes a single

polyprotein Proteolysis is the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids. Uncatalysed, the hydrolysis of peptide bonds is extremely slow, taking hundreds of years. Proteolysis is typically catalysed by cellular enzymes called prot ...

(M polyprotein) that is post-translationally processed into two surface glycoproteins (G_Nand G_C) which are the targets of neutralizing antibodies, and a nonstructural protein, NS_M. The L segment encodes a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

History

Signs and symptoms

Diagnosis

Genetics

Structure

References

Further reading