Isolation of Bhanja virus from ticks in Yugoslavia.

Two strains of Bhanja (BHA) virus, an ungrouped arbovirus, were isolated from Haemaphysalis punctata ticks collected from sheep on the island of Brac in the Yugoslavian Adriatic. Serologic testing gave evidence of the endemicity of BHA virus on the island, and antibody prevalence rates were high for both man (35.8%--ranging locally to 61.