蜱媒传染病是一类经蜱传播的自然疫源性疾病。从以前的“被忽视”到现在新疫区的“谈蜱色变”,蜱媒传染病的危害日益加大。近日，军事科学院军事医学研究院微生物流行病研究所曹务春研究团队发现了一种新的蜱传病毒病，相关研究结果发表在Lancet子刊EBioMedicine杂志，文章题目为Emergence of Human Infection with Jingmen Tick Virus in China: A Retrospective Study。EBioMedicine杂志同期配发评述文章。
Abstract
Background A tick-borne segmented RNA virus called Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) was recently identified, variants of which were detected in a non-human primate host and fatal patients with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. We investigated its infectivity and pathogenicity for humans.
Methods We obtained skin-biopsy, blood and serum samples from patients with tick bites, and used high-throughput sequencing, in situ hybridisation, and serologic testing to diagnose and ascertain the cases of JMTV infection.
Findings A JMTV strain was isolated from the tick Amblyomma javanense into an embryo-derived tick cell line. We obtained sustained passage of JMTV, and revealed that it was able to accumulate in salivary glands of experimentally infected ticks. Four JMTV-infected patients were identified by high-throughput sequencing of skin biopsies and blood samples. The virus replication in skin tissue was visualised by in situ hybridisation. The four patients all had an itchy or painful eschar at the site of tick bite, with or without lymphadenopathy. Immunohistochemical examination revealed remarkable local inflammation manifested as infiltration by neutrophils. Eight patients were identified by serological testing and showed more severe clinical manifestations. Two Ixodes persulcatus ticks detached from patients were positive for JMTV. All JMTV strains identified in this study formed a well-supported sub-lineage, distinct from those previously reported in China.
Interpretation The public significance of JMTV should be highly concerning due to its pathogenicity for humans and efficient transmission by potential ticks.
Fundings China Natural Science Foundation, China State Key Research Development Programme, and United Kingdom Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.