title: Genetic characterization of the M RNA segment of a Balkan Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strain.
abstract: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus causes one of the most severe diseases in humans, with a mortality rate of up to 30%. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of hard ticks or by contact with blood or tissues from human patients or infected livestock. Balkan Peninsula is an endemic region of the disease, and sporadic cases or even outbreaks are observed every year. The M RNA segment encodes for the glycoprotein precursor of two surface glycoproteins Gn and Gc. Up to now complete M RNA CCHF virus sequences have been published from strains isolated in Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Russia. In the present study, the genetic characterization of the complete nucleotide sequence of the M RNA segment of a Balkan CCHF virus strain, Kosovo/9553/2001, isolated in summer of 2001 from a human fatal case in Kosovo is reported. This is the first published complete M nucleotide sequence of a CCHF virus strain isolated in Balkans. It was found that the Balkan strain is similar to the Russian strain, both strains differing from all other completely sequenced CCHF virus strains by approximately 22% at the nucleotide level forming an independent clade in the phylogenetic tree.
authors.affiliation: A' Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Arboviruses and Haemorrhagic Fever Viruses).
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boźović
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antoniadis
mesh_terms: D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015022:Yugoslavia
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins