Toitoi isaviruses

The common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus) or toitoi (Māori), is a fish endemic to New Zealand, and is present throughout the country. It is a small fish only growing no lanrger than 15 centimetres.

Two novel viruses from the Orthomyxoviridae were identified in the common bully, collected from the diadromous populations at Otokia Creek (often spelled Otakaia in historical records) and Waikoutaiti River in New Zealand, and named Toitoi isavirus 1 and Toitoi isavirus 2[1].

The Toitoi isavirus 1 PB1 transcript was 1038 bp in length, and the Toitoi isavirus 2 transcript was 443 bp in length.

Relative abundances of Orthomyxoviridae for the samples containing Toitoi isavirus 1 and Toitoi isavirus 2 were 0.00014% and 0.00022% of sequences, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that both viruses were within the Isavirus genus, which contains other orthomyxoviruses from fish.

Toitoi isavirus 1 and Toitoi isavirus 2 PB1 proteins shared 32.3% amino acid identity across the 128 residues of PB1 sequence common to the two transcripts.

Toitoi isavirus 1 and Toitoi isavirus 2 proteins were closest related to Salmon isavirus PB1, sharing 51.4% and 34.3% amino acid identity, respectively.

You must understand that viruses, related to the Influenza viruses are hiding in plain sight. Ready to mutate and infect humans.

[1] Perry et al: Viromes of Freshwater Fish with Lacustrine and Diadromous Life Histories Differ in Composition in Viruses – 2022. See here.