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A tortoise-infecting picornavirus expands the host range of the family Picornaviridae

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Abstract

While picornaviruses can cause diseases in many mammals, little is known of their host range for replication in non-mammalian vertebrates. Here, a picornavirus in liver and kidney tissues from diseased Sulawesi tortoises (Indotestudo forsteni) was genetically characterized. Tortoise rafivirus A (ToRaV-A, KJ415177) represents a potential new genus in the family Picornaviridae, for which we propose the name “Rafivirus”. Our finding confirms the susceptibility of reptiles to picornaviruses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NHLBI grant R01 HL105770 to E.L.D and the Blood Systems Research Institute and grants from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K83013 and OTKA K111615).

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  1. Terry Fei Fan Ng

    Present address: NCIRD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Terry Fei Fan Ng, Nikola O. Kondov, Xutao Deng & Eric Delwart

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Terry Fei Fan Ng, Xutao Deng & Eric Delwart

  3. College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    James F. X. Wellehan, James K. Coleman & Thomas B. Waltzek

  4. Regional Laboratory of Virology, ÁNTSZ Regional Institute of State Public Health Service, Pécs, Hungary

    Gábor Reuter

  5. The Pirbright Institute, Woking, Surrey, UK

    Nick J. Knowles

Authors
  1. Terry Fei Fan Ng
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  2. James F. X. Wellehan
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  3. James K. Coleman
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  4. Nikola O. Kondov
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Correspondence to Terry Fei Fan Ng.

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Ng, T.F.F., Wellehan, J.F.X., Coleman, J.K. et al. A tortoise-infecting picornavirus expands the host range of the family Picornaviridae . Arch Virol 160, 1319–1323 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2366-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2366-6

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