Members of the jingmenviruses group have been found in arthropods and mammals on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. Two viruses of this group were isolated from patients with fever after a tick bite. Using a nested RT-PCR assay targeting a jingmenvirus polymerase gene fragment, we screened ticks collected in seven regions of Russia and found that the abundant jingmenvirus-positive were of Ixodes ricinus species, with the prevalence ranging from 19.8% to 34.3%. In all cases, DNase/RNase treatment suggested that the detected molecule was DNA and subsequent next generation sequencing (NGS) proved that the viral polymerase gene was integrated in the I. ricinus genome. The copy number of the integrated polymerase gene was quantified by qPCR relative to the ITS2 gene and estimated as 1.32 copies per cell. At least three different genetic variants of the integrated polymerase gene were found in the territory of Russia. Phylogenetic analysis of the integrated jingmenvirus polymerase gene showed the highest similarity with the sequence of the correspondent gene obtained in Serbia from I. ricinus.

Лихорадка Западного Нила на территории Московской агломерации

A new filovirus named Měnglà virus was found in bats in southern China in 2015. This species has been assigned to the new genus Dianlovirus and has only been detected in China. In this article, we report the detection of filoviruses in bats captured in Vietnam. We studied 248 bats of 15 species caught in the provinces of Lai Chau and Son La in northern Vietnam and in the province of Dong Thap in the southern part of the country. Filovirus RNA was found in four Rousettus leschenaultii and one Rousettus amplexicaudatus from Lai Chau Province. Phylogenetic analysis of the polymerase gene fragment showed that three positive samples belong to Dianlovirus, and two samples form a separate clade closer to Orthomarburgvirus. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that 9% of Rousettus, 13% of Eonycteris, and 10% of Cynopterus bats had antibodies to the glycoprotein of marburgviruses.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is a rapidly growing problem worldwide. The lack of emergency treatment and a safe licensed vaccine against WNV allows the virus to cause sporadic outbreaks of human disease, including fatal cases. Formalin-inactivated vaccines have been used for a long time and have been shown to be very safe and effective, especially in susceptible populations. Methods: By adapting tick-borne encephalitis vaccine production technology, we produced a laboratory-inactivated vaccine against WNV based on the strain SHUA, isolated from humans with a lethal WNV infection in the year 2021. Results: The potential vaccine was tested for safety in vitro and in vivo in outbred SHK mice of different ages, including PCR analysis of the brains of these mice to test for the absence of viral RNA after intracerebral injection. Conclusions: The inactivated whole-virion laboratory vaccine showed 100% seroconversion and immunogenicity against WNV strain SHUA-1, isolated from a lethal human case, and provided the mice with 100% protection from disease and death.

The aim of the workwas to study the species diversity of pathogenic and non-pathogenic hantaviruses circulating in populations of small mammals in the Republic of Bashkortostan using molecular-genetic methods.Materials and methods. Individual samples from small mammals were tested by the nested PCR using genus-specific primers that amplify the L segment of hantaviruses. The resulting PCR products were sequenced by the Sanger’s method from internal nested PCR primers. For samples containing Puumala virus, fragments of the S, M, and L segments of the viral genome were sequenced using Sanger’s method. The construction of phylogenetic trees was carried out using the MEGA X software.Results and discussion. Out of 300 examined samples of small mammals collected on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2023, 14 samples have been found positive for the presence of hantavirus RNA: Seewis (8), Tula (3), Puumala (3). The circulation of the non-pathogenic hantavirus Seewis and the opportunistic hantavirus Tula has been established for the first time in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The circulation of the Seewis hantavirus has been confirmed in populations of the common shrew (Sorex araneus) and the pygmy shrew (S. minutus); the Tula hantavirus – in populations of the common vole (Microtus arvalis). Results of phylogenetic analysis substantiate the reassortment origin of one of the genetic variants of the Puumala hantavirus on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The prerequisites for the formation of combined natural foci of hantaviruses Puumala, Seewis, and Tula on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan are discussed.

Introduction. Puumala virus (family Hantaviridae, genus Orthohantavirus) is distributed in most regions of the European part of Russia. However, information about its genetic variants circulating on the territory of the Central Federal District is extremely scarce. Materials and methods. Rodents tissue samples were tested after reverse transcription by PCR for the presence of hantaviral RNA. The amplified fragments of the L segment were sequenced by the Sanger method. For two samples, sequences of all three segments were obtained using the NGS method. Phylogenetic trees were built in the MEGA-X software. Results. Puumala virus was found in six samples. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of sequences of three segments, the obtained genetic variants belong to the sublineage previously designated as W-RUS. Conclusion. A genetic variant of the Puumala virus, belonging to the subline W-RUS, circulates on the territory of the Volokolamsk district of Moscow region.