McLean DM, Donohue WL , 1959. Powassan virus: isolation of virus from a fatal case of encephalitis. Can Med Assoc J 80: 708–711.
Ebel GD , 2010. Update on Powassan virus: emergence of North America tick-borne flavivirus. Annu Rev Entomol 55: 95–110.
Corrin T, Greig J, Harding S, Young I, Mascarenhas M, Waddell LA , 2018. Powassan virus, a scoping review of the global evidence. Zoonoses Public Health 65: 595–624.
Ebel GD, Campbell EN, Goethert HK, Spielman A, Telford SR III , 2000. Enzootic transmission of deer tick virus in New England and Wisconsin sites. Am J Trop Med Hyg 63: 36–42.
 CDC , 2021. Powassan Virus. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/powassan/statistics.html#casesbystate/. Accessed June 16, 2021.
Hermance ME, Thagamani S , 2017. Powassan virus: an emerging arbovirus of public health concern in North America. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 17: 453–462.
Gaines DN, Halpaus JL , 2011. Virginia Arboviral Activity in 2009. Hanover, MD: Proceeding First Annual Tick Summit.
Kelly RR, Gaines D, Gilliam WF, Brinkerhoff RJ , 2014. Population genetic structure of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis at an apparent spatial expansion front. Infect Genet Evol 27: 543–550.
Arsnoe I, Tsao JI, Hickling GJ , 2019. Nymphal Ixodes scapularis questing behavior explains geographic variation in Lyme borreliosis risk in the eastern United States. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 10: 553–563.
Brinkerhoff RJ, Gilliam WF, Gaines D , 2014. Lyme disease, Virginia, USA, 2000–2011. Emerg Infect Dis 20: 1661–1668.
Dantas-Torres F, Lia RP, Capelli G, Otranto D , 2013. Efficiency of flagging and dragging for tick collection. Exp Appl Acarol 61: 119–127.
Keirans JE, Litwak TR , 1989. Pictorial key to the adults of hard ticks, family Ixodidae (Ixodida: Ixodoidea), east of the Mississippi River. J Med Entomol 26: 435–448.
Durden LA, Keirans JE , 1996. Nymphs of the Genus Ixodes (Acari: Ixodidae) of the United States: Taxonomy, Identification Key, Distribution, Hosts, and Medical/Veterinary Importance. Lanham, MD: Thomas Say Publications in Entomology. Entomological Society of America.
Crowder CD, Rounds MA, Phillipson CA, Picuri JM, Matthews HE, Halverson J, Schutzer SE, Ecker DJ, Eshoo MW , 2010. Extraction of total nucleic acids from ticks for the detection of bacterial and viral pathogens. J Med Entomol 47: 89–94.
Tokarz R, Tagliafierro T, Cucura DM, Rochlin I, Sameroff S, Lipkin WI , 2017. Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan virus in ticks by a multiplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR assay. MSphere 2: e00151–e00217.
Robich RM, Cosenza DS, Elias SP, Henderson EF, Lubelczyk CB, Welch M, Smith RP , 2019. Prevalence and genetic characterization of deer tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Maine. Am J Trop Med Hyg 101: 467–471.
Kendall BL, Grabowski JM, Rosenke R, Pulliam M, Long DR, Scott DP, Offerdahl DK, Bloom ME , 2020. Characterization of flavivirus infection in salivary gland cultures from male Ixodes scapularis ticks. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 14: e0008683.
Brackney DE, Nofchissey RA, Fitzpatrick KA, Brown IK, Ebel GD , 2008. Stable prevalence of Powassan virus in Ixodes scapularis in a northern Wisconsin focus. Am J Trop Med Hyg 79: 971–973.
Anderson JF, Armstrong PM , 2012. Prevalence and genetic characterization of Powassan virus strains infecting Ixodes scapularis in Connecticut. Am J Trop Med Hyg 87: 754–759.
Dupuis AP II , Peters RJ, Prusinski MA, Falco RC, Ostfeld RS, Kramer LD , 2013. Isolation of deer tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) from Ixodes scapularis and detection of antibody in vertebrate hosts sampled in the Hudson Valley, New York State. Parasit Vectors 6: 1–11.
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Here we report the first detection and confirmation of Powassan virus (POWV) (family: Flaviridae) in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from Appalachian Virginia. Ixodes scapularis ticks were collected from vegetation across field sites in eight counties of western Virginia from June 2019 to April 2021. From these collections, one nymph and one adult male I. scapularis were determined to be positive for POWV using real-time RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Both positive ticks were collected from Floyd county, VA, at residential sites; the nymph in June 2020 and the adult male in April 2021. The presence of POWV in Virginia in its natural tick vector is crucial knowledge in beginning to understand the movement and transmission of this pathogen into new geographical areas and the risk it poses to medical and veterinary health.
Financial support: This work was supported in part by The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Tick-Borne Disease Research Award, endorsed by the Department of Defense, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs under Award No. W81XWH-19-TBDRP-CDA. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. Initial aspects of the work were supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project VA-160131.
Disclaimer: All authors declare no financial or other support which would constitute a conflict of interest; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work since its start in 2019. No other relationships or affiliations have influenced the submitted work.
Authors’ addresses: Alexandra Cumbie, Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Blacksburg, VA, E-mail: calex26@vt.edu. Amanda Whitlow, Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology, Blacksburg, VA, E-mail: amandamw19@vt.edu. Gillian Eastwood, Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology, Blacksburg, VA, E-mail: geastwood@vt.edu.
McLean DM, Donohue WL , 1959. Powassan virus: isolation of virus from a fatal case of encephalitis. Can Med Assoc J 80: 708–711.
Ebel GD , 2010. Update on Powassan virus: emergence of North America tick-borne flavivirus. Annu Rev Entomol 55: 95–110.
Corrin T, Greig J, Harding S, Young I, Mascarenhas M, Waddell LA , 2018. Powassan virus, a scoping review of the global evidence. Zoonoses Public Health 65: 595–624.
Ebel GD, Campbell EN, Goethert HK, Spielman A, Telford SR III , 2000. Enzootic transmission of deer tick virus in New England and Wisconsin sites. Am J Trop Med Hyg 63: 36–42.
 CDC , 2021. Powassan Virus. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/powassan/statistics.html#casesbystate/. Accessed June 16, 2021.
Hermance ME, Thagamani S , 2017. Powassan virus: an emerging arbovirus of public health concern in North America. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 17: 453–462.
Gaines DN, Halpaus JL , 2011. Virginia Arboviral Activity in 2009. Hanover, MD: Proceeding First Annual Tick Summit.
Kelly RR, Gaines D, Gilliam WF, Brinkerhoff RJ , 2014. Population genetic structure of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis at an apparent spatial expansion front. Infect Genet Evol 27: 543–550.
Arsnoe I, Tsao JI, Hickling GJ , 2019. Nymphal Ixodes scapularis questing behavior explains geographic variation in Lyme borreliosis risk in the eastern United States. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 10: 553–563.
Brinkerhoff RJ, Gilliam WF, Gaines D , 2014. Lyme disease, Virginia, USA, 2000–2011. Emerg Infect Dis 20: 1661–1668.
Dantas-Torres F, Lia RP, Capelli G, Otranto D , 2013. Efficiency of flagging and dragging for tick collection. Exp Appl Acarol 61: 119–127.
Keirans JE, Litwak TR , 1989. Pictorial key to the adults of hard ticks, family Ixodidae (Ixodida: Ixodoidea), east of the Mississippi River. J Med Entomol 26: 435–448.
Durden LA, Keirans JE , 1996. Nymphs of the Genus Ixodes (Acari: Ixodidae) of the United States: Taxonomy, Identification Key, Distribution, Hosts, and Medical/Veterinary Importance. Lanham, MD: Thomas Say Publications in Entomology. Entomological Society of America.
Crowder CD, Rounds MA, Phillipson CA, Picuri JM, Matthews HE, Halverson J, Schutzer SE, Ecker DJ, Eshoo MW , 2010. Extraction of total nucleic acids from ticks for the detection of bacterial and viral pathogens. J Med Entomol 47: 89–94.
Tokarz R, Tagliafierro T, Cucura DM, Rochlin I, Sameroff S, Lipkin WI , 2017. Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan virus in ticks by a multiplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR assay. MSphere 2: e00151–e00217.
Robich RM, Cosenza DS, Elias SP, Henderson EF, Lubelczyk CB, Welch M, Smith RP , 2019. Prevalence and genetic characterization of deer tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Maine. Am J Trop Med Hyg 101: 467–471.
Kendall BL, Grabowski JM, Rosenke R, Pulliam M, Long DR, Scott DP, Offerdahl DK, Bloom ME , 2020. Characterization of flavivirus infection in salivary gland cultures from male Ixodes scapularis ticks. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 14: e0008683.
Brackney DE, Nofchissey RA, Fitzpatrick KA, Brown IK, Ebel GD , 2008. Stable prevalence of Powassan virus in Ixodes scapularis in a northern Wisconsin focus. Am J Trop Med Hyg 79: 971–973.
Anderson JF, Armstrong PM , 2012. Prevalence and genetic characterization of Powassan virus strains infecting Ixodes scapularis in Connecticut. Am J Trop Med Hyg 87: 754–759.
Dupuis AP II , Peters RJ, Prusinski MA, Falco RC, Ostfeld RS, Kramer LD , 2013. Isolation of deer tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) from Ixodes scapularis and detection of antibody in vertebrate hosts sampled in the Hudson Valley, New York State. Parasit Vectors 6: 1–11.
Past two years | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 9073 | 868 | 54 |
Full Text Views | 278 | 126 | 1 |
PDF Downloads | 132 | 17 | 1 |