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Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus in Lithuania

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Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe problem in Lithuania, indicated by the 171 to 645 serologically confirmed cases that occurred each year between 1993 and 1999. In the present report, the first isolation and partial genetic analysis of a Lithuanian TBE virus (TBEV) strain isolated from a patient's serum sample is described. The patient was bitten by a tick while visiting the Lazdijai district (Veisiejai forest) in the southernmost part of Lithuania, a geographical area where Ixodes ricinus but not Ixodes persulcatus ticks are known to be present. The E protein-encoding viral gene sequence (nt 74–1273) recovered from the TBEV isolate showed the closest similarity to previously characterized European strains of the Western TBEV subtype, including the prototype TBEV strain Neudoerfl and those from neighbouring Latvia. Accordingly, the Lithuanian isolate was placed within the Western genetic lineage of TBEV in phylogenetic trees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Kaunas Medical University, Kaunas, Lithuania and Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institute at Huddinge Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    A. Mickiené

  2. Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Kaunas Medical University, Kaunas, Lithuania

    A. Laiškonis

  3. Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden and Microbiology and Tumour Biology Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    S. Vene

  4. Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, 17182 Stockholm, Sweden and Microbiology and Tumour Biology Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Å. Lundkvist

  5. Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Tallinn, Estonia, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden and Microbiology and Tumour Biology Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    I. Golovljova

  6. Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institute at Huddinge Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    L. Lindquist

  7. Haartman Institute, Department of Virology, University of Helsinki, Finland and Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden

    A. Plyusnin

Authors
  1. A. Mickiené
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  2. S. Vene
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  3. I. Golovljova
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  4. A. Laiškonis
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  5. L. Lindquist
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  6. A. Plyusnin
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  7. Å. Lundkvist
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Mickiené, A., Vene, S., Golovljova, I. et al. Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus in Lithuania. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 20, 886–888 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-001-0637-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-001-0637-5

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