The GGYV genome consists of a linear, single-stranded RNA with positive polarity . As with all Flaviviridae , the genome comprises only one open reading frame , the length of which in GGYV is 10,251 nt . The length of the flanking, non-coding regions of the GGYV is unknown. The virus particles (virions) of the GGYV appear in the transmission electron microscope as approximately 45 nm large, round structures with an electron- tight interior.
Biological importance
The GGYV was isolated from tick samples collected in 1975 near king penguin colonies on Macquarie Island and was first described in 1985. In a tick sample collected in 1972 from a colony of emperor penguins, GGYV could also be subsequently detected. Since the vector of the virus, the tick Ixodes urinae , also occurs as an enzootic parasite in seabirds capable of flying , it is assumed that the GGYV has a natural reservoir in a seabird species that has not yet been identified and that it can possibly be transmitted to animal populations worldwide. According to comparative studies of new isolates from 2008, the GGYV has only a low variability of the genome and antigenicity . A threat to or clinically manifest disease of penguins from GGYV has not yet been observed; the penguin populations may have been sufficiently adapted to the virus. A disease caused by GGYV in humans could not be proven either, although specific antibodies against GGYV were found in around 4% of the inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef .
^ TD St George, RL Doherty et al. : The isolation of arboviruses including a new flavivirus and a new Bunyavirus from Ixodes (Ceratixodes) uriae (Ixodoidea: Ixodidae) collected at Macquarie Island, Australia, 1975-1979 . Am J Trop Med Hyg (1985) 34: pp. 406-412 PMID 2984951
↑ RL Doherty et al. : Isolation of arboviruses (Kemerovo group, Sakhalin group) from Ixodes uriae collected at Macquarie Island, Southern ocean . Am J Trop Med Hyg (1975) 24: p. 521-526
↑ Lee Major, May La Linn, Robert W. Slade et al. : Ticks Associated with Macquarie Island Penguins Carry Arboviruses from Four Genera. PLoS ONE. (2009) 4 (2): e4375, PMC 2632750 (free full text)
^ RA Hawkes et al .: Arbovirus infections of humans in New South Wales. Seroepidemiology of the flavivirus group of togaviruses. Med J Australia (1985) 143: pp. 555-561 PMID 3007952
