title: Genetic characterization of the M RNA segment of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strains, China.
abstract: We report the genetic characterization of the M RNA segment of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Two CCHFV strains isolated in Xinjiang Province, a region endemic for CCHF in northwestern China, were studied. These strains, designated BA66019 and BA8402, were isolated in 1965 and 1984 from a CCHF patient and Hyalomma ticks, respectively. Viral RNA was extracted from suckling mouse brains infected with these two strains, amplified, and sequenced. The full-length M RNA, consisting of 5.3 kb, was determined for both strains. The coding nucleotide sequences of the two strains differed from each other by 17.5% and from the reference CCHFV strain IbAr10200 by a mean of 22%, suggesting that the genus Nairovirus comprises a group of genetically highly diverse strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54006 Greece. annap@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: Benjiang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kouidou
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Changshou
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hang
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antoniadis
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002681:China; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D015686:Gene Products, env; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012367:RNA, Viral