title: The phylodynamics of the rabies virus in the Russian Federation.
abstract: Near complete rabies virus N gene sequences (1,110 nt) were determined for 82 isolates obtained from different regions of Russia between 2008 and 2016. These sequences were analyzed together with 108 representative GenBank sequences from 1977-2016 using the Bayesian coalescent approach. The timing of the major evolutionary events was estimated. Most of the isolates represented the steppe rabies virus group C, which was found over a vast geographic region from Central Russia to Mongolia and split into three groups (C0-C2) with discrete geographic prevalence. A single strain of the steppe rabies virus lineage was isolated in the far eastern part of Russia (Primorsky Krai), likely as a result of a recent anthropogenic introduction. For the first time the polar rabies virus group A2, previously reported in Alaska, was described in the northern part of European Russia and at the Franz Josef Land. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that all currently circulating rabies virus groups in the Russian Federation were introduced within the few last centuries, with most of the groups spreading in the 20th century. The dating of evolutionary events was highly concordant with the historical epidemiological data.
authors.affiliation: Federal Budget Institute of Science Central Research Institute for Epidemiology, Moscow, Russian Federation.|Federal Budget Institute Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Moscow, Russian Federation.|Research Institute of Occupational Health, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Andrei A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0789-4601
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Deviatkin
authors.affiliation: Federal Budget Institute Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Moscow, Russian Federation.|Institute of Molecular Medicine, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia.|RUDN University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Lukashev
authors.affiliation: Institute for Natural Foci Infections, Omsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Poleshchuk
authors.affiliation: Federal Budget Institute of Science Central Research Institute for Epidemiology, Moscow, Russian Federation.|Research Institute of Occupational Health, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Vladimir G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Dedkov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICBFM SB RAS), Novosibirsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Sergey E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Tkachev
authors.affiliation: Institute for Natural Foci Infections, Omsk, Russian Federation.|Omsk State Pedagogical University, Omsk, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Gennadiy N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Sidorov
authors.affiliation: Federal Budget Institute Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Galina G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Karganova
authors.affiliation: Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Irina V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Galkina
authors.affiliation: Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russian Federation.|Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Mikhail Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Shchelkanov
authors.affiliation: Federal Budget Institute of Science Central Research Institute for Epidemiology, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: German A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Shipulin
mesh_terms: D016679:Genome, Viral; D010802:Phylogeny; D011818:Rabies / Q000821:virology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012426:Russia