Journal of General Virology (2014), 95, 292–300 DOI 10.1099/vir.0.056614-0 Short Characterization of the Sandfly fever Naples Communication species complex and description of a new Karimabad species complex (genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae) Gustavo Palacios,1 Robert B. Tesh,2 Nazir Savji,33 Amelia P. A. Travassos da Rosa,2 Hilda Guzman,2 Ana Valeria Bussetti,3 Aaloki Desai,3 Jason Ladner,1 Maripaz Sanchez-Seco4 and W. Ian Lipkin3 Correspondence 1Center for Genomic Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Gustavo Palacios Diseases, Frederick, MD, USA
[email protected] 2Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA 3Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA 4Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Instituto de Salud ‘Carlos III’, Madrid, Spain Genomic and antigenic characterization of members of the Sandfly fever Naples virus (SFNV) complex reveals the presence of five clades that differ in their geographical distribution. Saint Floris and Gordil viruses, both found in Africa, form one clade; Punique, Granada and Massilia viruses, all isolated in the western Mediterranean, constitute a second; Toscana virus, a third; SFNV isolates from Italy, Cyprus, Egypt and India form a fourth; while Tehran virus and a Serbian isolate Yu 8/76, represent a fifth. Interestingly, this last clade appears not to express the second non-structural protein ORF. Karimabad virus, previously classified as a member of the SFNV complex, and Gabek Forest virus are distinct and form a new species complex (named Karimabad) in the Phlebovirus genus.