Abstract
Orbiviruses are emerging pathogens of public and veterinary health concern. This study reports the discovery and genomic characterization of a novel orbivirus in adult ticks collected from African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Kafue National Park, Zambia. Six ticks were identified through genetic analyses; one Rhipicephalus maculatus and five Amblyomma tholloni. Salivary gland and blood meal samples were dissected for virus characterization. Total nucleic acids were extracted and reverse-transcribed, and libraries were prepared for deep sequencing. De novo assembly of trimmed sequences recovered four novel viruses designated "zaloxo" to indicate their association with Zambian elephants (genus Loxodonta), abbreviated ZXLV-1 to ZXLV-4. ZXLV-1, a member of the genus Orbivirus, belongs to the same subclade of dsRNA orbiviruses as bluetongue virus, epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, and African horse sickness virus. ZXLV-2 and ZXLV-3 are most closely related to dsRNA Totiviridae and ssDNA Circoviridae viruses, respectively. ZXLV-4 belongs to the genus Alphapolyomavirus, dsDNA viruses which are ubiquitous in mammals but have unclear associations with disease. While the pathogenicity of these viruses remains unclear, these results suggest that a hidden diversity of viruses likely exists in elephant ectoparasites, warranting attention from the perspective of both health and conservation.