Characterization of tick-borne enchephalitis virus from Latvia

✍ Scribed by Mavtchoutko, Violeta; Vene, Sirkka; Haglund, Mats; Forsgren, Marianne; Duks, Arnis; Kalnina, Vaira; H�rling, Jan; Lundkvist, �ke

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 124 KB
• Volume: 60
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(200002)60:2<216::aid-jmv18>3.0.co;2-z

✦ Synopsis

Viruses of the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) antigenic complex, within the family Flaviviridae, cause a variety of diseases including uncomplicated febrile illness, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, hemorrhagic fever and chronic disease in humans, domesticated animals or wildlife species. TBE is a serious problem in Latvia with up to a 1,000 patients confirmed serologically annually 1994-1995. No previous data had been reported on the causative agent of TBE in Latvia. In the present study, a virus was isolated from serum of a patient with clinical symptoms of an acute TBE infection. Nucleotide sequence information obtained by direct reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the serological characteristics of the isolated virus strain, designated TBE-Latvia-1-96, indicated a closer relationship to the Vasilchenko strain, isolated in Novosibirsk (Siberia, Russia), as compared to the western European or far eastern subtypes of TBE viruses. In a mouse neurovirulence assay, a significant difference in survival rates (days) was shown between Latvia-1-96 and the western European TBE virus subtype.