Researchers discover new tick-borne virus in the Alps
It is not yet possible to tell which consequences the newly discovered virus infection will have for animal and public health
A European study just published in the internationally journal “Viruses”, led by the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, has identified a new, previously unknown tick-borne virus for the first time. The new flavivirus subtype was found in diseased Alpine chamois and attached ticks from Austria and Italy. Several research institutions from Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates were involved in the study. According to the scientists, it is not yet possible to tell which consequences the newly discovered virus infection will have for animal and public health. To facilitate further research, the cell culture isolate of the newly identified virus (“Alpine chamois encephalitis virus”; ACEV) has been deposited on the platform of the European Virus Archive.
The European subtype of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV-Eur; species Orthoflavivirus encephalitidis, family Flaviviridae) was previously the only tick-borne flavivirus in Central Europe known to cause neurological diseases in humans and various animal species. Now, for the first time, scientists report a tick-borne flavivirus isolated from Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra) with encephalitis and attached ticks – a species that occurs in a large area in the Alps. The cases were detected in Salzburg (Austria) in 2017 and in Lombardy and Piedmont (Italy) in 2023.
New flavivirus subtype “Alpine chamois encephalitis virus” (ACEV)
According to the first author of the study, Norbert Nowotny, from the Center of Pathobiology at Vetmeduni, the virus strains show 94.8-97.3 % nucleotide identities to each other and are more closely related to Louping ill viruses (Orthoflavivirus loupingi; 90-92 % identities), which are mainly found on the British Isles, than to TBEV-Eur (less than 88 %). “The virus strains originating from chamois, which we provisionally refer to as “Alpine chamois encephalitis virus” (ACEV), form an independent genetic group together with the Spanish goat encephalitis virus, which is clearly different from the other Louping Ill viruses,” explains Nowotny. According to the expert, this argues for the classification as a new virus subtype with the proposed common taxonomic name “Spanish goat and Alpine chamois encephalitis virus subtype” within the species Orthoflavivirus loupingi. “The zoonotic potential of this newly identified virus subtype and its host range in other animal species, including livestock, needs to be further investigated. If, for example, goats or sheep are also susceptible to this newly discovered virus, there would also be a risk of human infection through the consumption of raw milk products from these animal species,” emphasizes Nowotny.
Virus detected at completely different, distant locations
The newly identified tick-borne flavivirus subtype was detected at three different locations - one in Austria and two in northern Italy - at a distance of up to 390 kilometers as the crow flies and over a period of more than six years. The time of year in which the infected chamois were found also varied greatly, with February, May and September. The altitude of the locations also differed significantly, ranging from 761 to 1,200 to 1,700 meters above sea level (a.s.l.). The findings also differed in terms of tick infestation: in one case (found in February at 1,700m a.s.l.) there were no ticks on the chamois, which means that the infection must have occurred several weeks or even months earlier. In the other two cases, the infected ticks were still attached to the chamois.
Original publication
Norbert Nowotny, Maria Lucia Mandola, Isabella Monne, Zoltán Bagó, Chiara Nogarol, Alice Fusaro, Katharina Dimmel, Barbara Moroni, Lisa Guardone, ... Alawi Alsheikh-Ali, Paola De Benedictis, Jeremy V. Camp, Zdenek Hubalek, Ivo Rudolf, Davide Lelli, Ana Moreno; "Neurotropic Tick-Borne Flavivirus in Alpine Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra), Austria, 2017, Italy, 2023"; Viruses, Volume 17, 2025-1-16
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