Seroprevalence against toscana virus in Spain: The case of the autonomous community of Madrid Martínez JG, García SG, Walter S, Gil- Prieto R, Lacomba DL, Marín-García P, Gil-de-Miguel Á, González-Escalada A,

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Seroprevalence against toscana virus in Spain: The case of the autonomous community of Madrid Jesús García Martínez¹, Sonsoles García García², Stefan Walter³, Ruth Gil- Prieto³, Daniel López Lacomba⁴, Patricia Marín-García⁵, Ángel Gil-de-Miguel³, Alba González-Escalada⁶ ¹ Area of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Cº Molino, Spain ² 28942-Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain; 2Rey Juan Carlos University, Av. Atenas s/n. 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain ³ Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Rey Juan Carlos University, Av. Atenas s/n. 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain ⁴ Area of Haematology, Hospital Universitario de Fuenlabrada, Cº Molino, 2. 28942-Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain ⁵ Area of Medical Immunology, Rey Juan Carlos University, Av. Atenas s/n. 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain ⁶ Area of Medical Microbiology, Rey Juan Carlos University, Av. Atenas s/n. 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain Correspondence Address: Alba González-Escalada, Area of Medical Microbiology, Rey Juan Carlos University, Av. Atenas s/n. 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid Spain Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None DOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.335771

Background & objectives : The Toscana virus (TOSV) is a neurotropic arbovirus that is transmitted through the bite of some Phlebotomus species. In 2009, the largest outbreak of leishmaniasis described so far in Europe, occurred in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain, which was related to the population increase of P. perniciosus in this region. Methods: A seroprevalence study was conducted to determine the circulation of TOSV among the population of this geographic area. A total of 516 sera were collected in two different stages: 2007 (before the leishmaniasis outbreak) and 2018-19 (representative of the current situation). In the sera, presence of IgG antibodies against TOSV was determined by commercial ELISA. Results: The overall seroprevalence was 34.5%. The anti-TOSV IgG level was significantly higher in the samples collected in 2007 (41.5%) than 2018-19 (27.3%). Interpretation & conclusion: The results of this study show a very active TOSV circulation in our region that is greater than expected. The lower seroprevalence figures in the 2018-19 period may be related to the vector and environmental control measures that were put in place as a result of the leishmaniasis outbreak of 2009, which highlights the importance of these strategies to reduce the incidence of TOSV infection and other vector-borne diseases.

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    -  Martínez JG
    -  García SG
    -  Walter S
    -  Gil- Prieto R
    -  Lacomba DL
    -  Marín-García P
    -  Gil-de-Miguel Á
    -  González-Escalada A

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