Tembusu Virus in Human, China

• Published in: Transboundary and emerging diseases Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 193 - 196
• Main Authors: Tang, Y., Gao, X., Diao, Y., Feng, Q., Chen, H., Liu, X., Ge, P., Yu, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2013; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; antibodies; Antibodies, Neutralizing - blood; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Aquatic birds; China; Disease transmission; Ducks; Ducks - virology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Evolution, Molecular; Flavivirus; Flavivirus - genetics; Flavivirus - isolation & purification; Flavivirus - pathogenicity; Flavivirus Infections - diagnosis; human; Human subjects; Humans; Mouth Mucosa - virology; Occupational Diseases - diagnosis; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Poultry Diseases - diagnosis; Poultry Diseases - virology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA Helicases - genetics; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Viral - blood; RNA, Viral - genetics; Serine Endopeptidases - genetics; Tembusu virus; Viral Load; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - genetics; Viruses; Wildfowl; China; Shandong China
• ISSN: 1865-1674; 1865-1682; 1865-1682
• DOI: 10.1111/tbed.12085

Summary Tembusu virus (TMUV) infection in ducks, geese and house sparrows was reported in China. To confirm the emergence of TMUV in humans, we investigated TMUV as a possible infection in duck industry workers in Shandong, China. Of 132 serum samples tested, 95 (71.9%) had TMUV antibodies. In oral swabs detection, 63 (47.7%) samples were positive for TMUV RNA. Nucleotide sequences of 277 bp coding the partial NS3 protein showed more than 99.5% identity with other duck TMUV strains, which can cause severe egg drop in ducks. These findings contribute to the realization that TMUV may be overlooked as a zoonotic transmission in China.