Seroprevalence of Toscana Virus in Blood Donors, France, 2007

Nested reverse transcription–PCR using degenerate primers was applied to amplify a 222-bp fragment of the large RNA segment of phleboviruses (9). The retrieved sequence was identical to sequences detected in sandfl ies collected in 2005 in the Adriatic coastal region of Albania; that strain was provisionally named Adria virus (10). Adria virus is distinct from other recognized members of the genus Phlebovirus and clusters with phleboviruses of the Salehabad serocomplex, such as Salehabad virus and Arbia virus, differing by 21.6% and 29.6% with Salehabad virus and Arbia virus at the nucleotide level and by 3% and 17.7% at the amino acid level, respectively (Table). Detection of the Adria virus sequence in the patient’s blood suggests that this virus is pathogenic to humans. As expected, serologic testing of the sample taken at the time of admission produced negative results for phleboviruses; a convalescentphase blood sample was not available. Although the course of the disease in the child was mild, further studies will show the role of this strain in public health. Because the duration of viremia in persons with phlebovirus infections is short, use of molecular methods for the laboratory diagnosis of phleboviral infections is limited; and even when a phleboviral infection is confi rmed by serologic testing, the exact strain is diffi cult to determine. Physicians in Greece, as in other Mediterranean countries, should be aware of the circulation of phleboviruses and potential risk for phlebovirusassociated infections during the summer. Such infections, especially with neurologic signs, should be included in the differential diagnosis of summer febrile syndromes.