ANTIGENIC AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TOSCANA VIRUS, A NEW PHLEBOTOMUS FEVER GROUP VIRUS ISOLATED IN ITALY

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 28  (1) , 39-47
Abstract
Toscana (TOS) virus, a new member of the Phlebotomus fever serogroup of arboviruses, was isolated from sandflies collected in Italy. It was shown to be closely related to Sandfly fever Naples (SFN) virus. The antigenic relationships between the 2 viruses were analyzed in the complement fixation (CF), plaque reduction neutralization (PRN) and indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests. TOS virus multiplied to high titers with a cytopathic effect (CPE) in several vertebrate cell cultures; it failed to replicate in mosquito cell cultures. Plaque formation by TOS virus in African green monkey kidney Vero cells was not affected by incorporating dimethyl sulfoxide in the overlay, which is known to enhance plaque formation by SFN virus. Some biological characteristics in cell cultures and in mice of a mouse-adapted and a cell-adapted TOS virus strain were studied. After 4-6 passages in the 2 different systems, changes in plaque size, amount of autointerfering activity and virulence for mice were observed.