Hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the Colombian Caribbean harbor the Jingmen tick virus: an emerging arbovirus of public health concern – Parasites & Vectors

JMTV was detected in R. microplus and D. nitens ticks collected from cattle, and A. dissimile collected from iguanas in the Colombian Caribbean (Table 1). This is the third JMTV study on R. microplus and the first virus report on D. nitens and A. dissimile from Colombia.

JMTV was first identified in R. microplus ticks in the Jingmen area of Hubei Province, China, in 2010 [5], then in 2012 in Uganda, JMTV was detected by NGS in the plasma of a red colobus monkey (Procolobus rufomitratus) [19]. Between 2013 and 2015, 12 human sera samples collected in Kosovo were analyzed, and patients with CCHF coinfected with JMTV were detected [21]. Between 2014 and 2016, in France, French Antilles, Laos People’s Democratic Republic, and Cambodia, JMTV was detected in Ixodes ricinus, R. microplus, Amblyomma testudinarium, and bats, respectively [9]. In 2017, JMTV was isolated in BME/CTVM23 cells. NGS sequenced the whole genome in Amblyomma javanense collected from Chinese pangolins [4]. That same year, human patients positive for JMV were reported in China. The infection was confirmed by RT-PCR assay in blood in 86 patients with fever, headache, and a history of tick bites. Serological assays showed seroconversion in 19 patients [22]. In Kenya, between 2013 and 2019, ticks of the Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus species were collected, and JMTV was detected by PCR and NGS [11].

Recently, in 2023, in China, JMTV was detected in R. microplus ticks through NGS (MGISEQ-2000), which PCR confirmed, and the complete genome was obtained with Sanger sequencing [8]. Furthermore, they detected JMTV in I. ricinus in Poland and Georgia by NGS (nanopore) and PCR [3].

In Latin America, there are a few reports of JMTV. In Brazil, between 2015 and 2016, complete and partial JMTV genomes were obtained by high-throughput sequencing in 67% (4/6) of tick pools and 14% (5/36) of bovine sera [10]. In Colombia, in the Department of Antioquía, between 2013 and 2018, several JMTV segments were detected by NGS in ticks of the genus Rhiphicephalus [16, 17]. Many of the JMTV reports with NGS carry out a confirmation with PCR; however, in this study, complete genomes were recovered. Thus, confirmation was unnecessary.

JMTV has a worldwide distribution and has been detected in six genera of ticks: Rhipicephalus, Amblyomma, Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis, Hyalomma, and Ixodes, and 26 species [7, 37]. This work provides two new species of ticks where JMTV was detected: D. nitens and A. dissimile. However, R. linnaei was negative despite previous positive reports for this tick species [5].

Interestingly, in the present work, JMTV was detected in D. nitens parasitizing cattle, which suggests transmission to cattle by these tick species, given that there are reports of this virus in cattle from Brazil [10]. This finding indicates a probable risk of transmission to different species of ticks, animals, and humans.

Phylogenetic analyses of five JMTV proteins showed that, in four of the trees obtained (Fig. 2, tree A, C–E), most of the viruses were grouped in two clusters, one of them associated with different species of bats and ticks and the other with humans and different species of ticks.

Interestingly, our sequences of the NSP1, VP2, and VP3 trees were placed in a clade closely related to the JMTVs detected in humans from Kosovo [21]. This is a finding that should alert the medical community in the tropical regions of Colombia.

Given the close linkage between the sole JMTV sequence identified in A. albopictus in Italy and the strain characterized in the current study (Fig. 2, tree A), it is necessary to carry out epidemiological surveillance of JMTV in mosquitoes from tropical areas of Colombia.

Unfortunately, for the phylogenetic analyses, only the VP1 of JMTV previously reported in Colombia could be included given the limited availability of data; however, it presents a high phylogenetic relationship with the JMTV detected in D. nitens from Cesar, reported in the present study.

It is necessary to develop serological tests with the exclusive segments of circulating JMTV to avoid cross-reactions with other endemic flaviviruses and generate tools to contribute to diagnosing febrile syndrome without an apparent focus.