RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Jääskeläinen, Anu E. A1 Sironen, Tarja A1 Murueva, Galina B. A1 Subbotina, Nataliya A1 Alekseev, Andrey N. A1 Castrén, Janne A1 Alitalo, Ilkka A1 Vaheri, Antti A1 Vapalahti, OlliYR 2010 T1 Tick-borne encephalitis virus in ticks in Finland, Russian Karelia and Buryatia JF Journal of General Virology, VO 91 IS 11 SP 2706 OP 2712 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.023663-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a central nervous system infection caused by a flavivirus [tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV)], transmitted by Ixodes ticks and endemic in a large region in Eurasia. We collected 2411 ticks from Finland and Russia in 2003–2008, screened them for TBEV by RT-PCR and isolated and analysed eight strains belonging to all three TBEV subtypes; in addition, we obtained two European-subtype strains from human serum samples. TBEV RNA prevalence in unengorged ticks was approximately 1 % both in the northernmost TBE-endemic areas of Europe in Finland and Russian Karelia, and in Siberia in Buryatia. In Finland, both Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes persulcatus ticks were found from distinct areas and, in Russian Karelia, were overlapping in the same study site. TBEV E and NS3 gene sequences obtained showed a variability of 0–4 % within European-subtype strains, 2–9 % for Siberian-subtype strains and 3–13 % for Far Eastern-subtype strains., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.023663-0