A highly virulent strain (Hypr) of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was serially subcultured in the mammalian porcine kidney stable (PS) and tick (IRE/CTVM19) cell lines, producing three viral variants. These variants exhibited distinct plaque sizes and virulence in a mouse model. Comparing the full-genome sequences of all variants, several nucleotide changes were identified in different genomic regions.
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