Simultaneous Detection and Genome Analysis of the Kindia Tick Virus in Cattle and Rhipicephalus Ticks in the Republic of Guinea.

Background

Over the past decade, numerous new tick-associated flavi-like viruses with segmented genomes have been discovered almost worldwide. Kindia tick virus (KITV) was first detected in Rhipicephalus geigyi ticks in West Africa in 2017. The current study aimed to detect viral RNA in tick and cattle samples collected in Guinea and to perform complete sequencing of KITV isolates and their analysis.

Methods

Adult ticks and blood samples were collected from cattle in Coyah, Dubréka, Forécariah, and Kindia prefectures of the Republic of Guinea in 2022. These samples were tested for KITV infection by RT-PCR with primers targeting the NS5 gene. Positive probes were sequenced using Illumina technology, and their analysis was performed for obtaining complete sequences of all KITV segments.

Results

The RNA of the KITV was detected by RT-PCR in Rh. geigyi, Rh. annulatus ticks, and blood samples of cattle. The prevalence rates for cattle were 6.6%, for Rh. annulatus 6.9%, and for Rh. geigyi ticks 10.7%. The analysis of 15 complete sequences of KITV genomes showed 99.61-99.67% identity for amino acid sequences for segments 1 and 4 and 97.88-98.83% for segments 2 and 3 with previously detected KITV isolate in Guinea in 2017. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that obtained KITV sequences can be classified as typical for clade A of the Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) group together with Mogiana tick virus.

Conclusion

The KITV isolates from cattle and feeding ticks show practically full identity sequences for all four viral segments, and these sequences can be classified as clade A of the segmented flavi-like virus JMTV group.