Tick-borne encephalitis virus in arthropod vectors in the Far East of Russia.

Isolates of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) from arthropod vectors (ticks and mosquitoes) in the Amur, the Jewish Autonomous and the Sakhalin regions as well as on the Khabarovsk territory of the Far East of Russia were studied. Different proportions of four main tick species of the family Ixodidae: Ixodes persulcatus P. Schulze, 1930; Haemaphysalis concinna Koch, 1844; Haemaphysalis japonica douglasi Nuttall et Warburton, 1915 and Dermacentor silvarum Olenev, 1932 were found in forests and near settlements.

Comparative analysis of genomes of tick-borne encephalitis virus strains isolated from mosquitoes and ticks.

The tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) strain Lazo MP36 was isolated from the pool of mosquitoes Aedes vexans collected in Lazo region of Khabarovsk territory in August 2014. Phylogenetic analysis of the strain Lazo MP36 complete genome (GenBank accession number KT001073) revealed its correspondence to the TBEV Far Eastern subtype and differences from the following strains: 1) from ticks Ixodes persulcatus P. Schulze, 1930 [vaccine strain 205 (JX498939) and strains Khekhtzir 1230 (KF880805), Chichagovka (KP844724), Birobidzhan 1354 (KF880805) isolated in 2012-2013]; 2) from mosquitoes [strain Malyshevo (KJ744034) isolated in 1978 from Aedes vexans nipponii in Khabarovsk territory; strain Sakhalin 6-11 isolated from the pool of mosquitoes in 2011 (KF826916)]; 3) from human brain [vaccine strain Sofjin (JN229223), Glubinnoe/2004(DQ862460).

Molecular-genetic and ultrastructural characteristics of 'Candidatus Ehrlichia khabarensis', a new member of the Ehrlichia genus.

Recently, a new Ehrlichia genetic variant, Ehrlichia sp. Khabarovsk, was identified in tissue samples of small mammals captured in the Russian Far East. To further characterize Ehrlichia sp.