First Detection of Phlebotominae Transmitted Viruses Coinfecting Dogs with Visceral Leishmaniasis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sand fly vectors harbor and transmit Leishmania parasites and other pathogens, including arboviruses, to vertebrate hosts. The geographical distribution of sand flies' transmitted phleboviruses in Leishmaniasis foci led to the search for coinfection in the vectors and reservoirs. We developed an RT-PCR-based assay to detect sand fly-borne segmented (—) RNA arbovirus belonging to the Families Phenuiviridae and Peribunyaviridae from the Americas in Leishmania hosts.We processed the bone marrow or sera from 25 dogs positive for Visceral Leishmaniasis. Two dogs' samples were amplified with a set of primers according to the predicted amplicon size, and the DNA sequencing analysis revealed a high similarity with members of the Peribunyaviridae Family, subgroup Pacuivirus. We isolated and sequenced the genome from one positive dog, confirming the identification of a Pacuivirus genome closely related to it. Our RT-PCR-based assay detected the infection of sand fly-borne RNA virus in dogs with visceral Leishmaniasis and may be helpful for the broad search of coinfection in vertebrate hosts and vectors. We were also able to isolate one of the virus from the positive samples