A case of central nervous system infection due to a novel Sandfly Fever Virus (SFV) variant: Sandfly Fever Turkey Virus (SFTV)

We present a case of viral encephalitis due to Sandfly Fever Turkey Virus (SFTV), a novel phlebovirus genetically related to but distinct from Sandfly Fever Sicilian Virus (SFSV), recently identified in a 63-year-old female, via consensus PCR and sequencing. SFTV was initially characterized in 2010 in samples from outbreaks of febrile diseases occurred during 2007-2008 and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an SFTV-related central nervous system (CNS) infection. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.