INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF BUNYAVIRIDAE IN PUBLIC AND VETERINARY HEALTH ILLUSTRATED BY HANTAVIRUSES, AND THE SCHMALLENBERG AND RIFT VALLEY FEVER VIRUSES

The virus family of Bunyaviridae is very important in terms of public health and veterinary medicine. With over 350 viruses identified to date, it includes viruses mainly transmitted by arthropods (arboviruses) or rodents (roboviruses), infecting mammals and plants for the genus Tospovirus. Humans can be infected by around 60 bunyaviruses sometime with very serious or even fatal consequences. The examples of Schmallenberg and Rift Valley fever viruses and hantavirus genus illustrate perfectly the many questions surrounding the Bunyaviridae family's capacity to emerge, widely variable pathogenicity for different hosts, and capacity to persist in different vectors such as arthropods or rodents and more recently the soricomorph species (insectivores).