DETECTION AND GENETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RNA ISOLATES OF CRIMEAN-CONGO HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER VIRUS FROM THE HYALOMMA MARGINATUM TICKS COLLECTED IN THE ASTRAKHAN REGION (2016)

1,746 specimens of H. marginatum ticks collected in the Astrakhan region were examined by RT-PCR, their infection rate with CCHF virus amounted to 1.5%. This is comparable with results of earlier studies performed in different years in the Astrakhan and Rostov regions and testified to such indices of viral resistance as 0.1; 0.9; 2.4; 0.6; 0.9 and 2.3%. As a result of sequencing of fragments of the genome (fourteen of the 26 isolates of RNA, they refer to the genotype Europe-1. Seven out of 14 isolates belong to the subtype Va Stavropol-Rostov-Astrakhan, two represent the reassortant genetic variant S-Vc; M-Vb; L-Va.