The idea that viruses could replicate in Varroa mites goes back pretty far:
> Examination of mite tissue by electron microscopy revealed aggregates of virus-like particles of the same size located in the cytoplasm. Similar observations were made by Kleespies et al. (2000) from a sample of mites in Germany, but the virus could not be recovered. The purified particles from the Wageningen mites contained RNA as genetic material. This suggested that the picorna-like virus could replicate in the mite, and formed the motivation to carry out the study described in this thesis.
Ongus, J.R. (2006) Varroa destructor virus 1: A new picorna-like virus in Varroa mites as well as honey bees. Thesis Wageningen University
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