Genetic Analysis of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Russia

Abstract

Genetic analysis of wild-type Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus strains recovered in the European part of Russia was performed. Reverse transcriptase PCR followed by direct sequencing was used to recover partial sequences of the CCHF virus medium (M) genome segment (M segment) from four pools of Hyalomma marginatum ticks and six human patients. Phylogenetic analysis of the M-segment sequences from Russian strains revealed a close relatedness of the strains (nucleotide sequence diversity, ≤5.0%). The strains differed significantly from CCHF viruses from other regions of the world (nucleotide sequence diversity, 10.3 to 20.4%), suggesting that CCHF virus strains recovered in the European part of Russia form a distinct group.