First Report of the Yezo Virus Isolates Detection in Russia

The recent discovery of the Yezo virus (YEZV) in Japan and China has raised particular concern due to its potential to cause human diseases ranging from mild febrile illnesses to severe neurological disorders. We report, for the first time, the detection of five YEZV isolates in I. persulcatus ticks from three regions of Russia. The analysis was performed using 5318 ticks of two Ixodes genus collected in 2024 from 23 regions of Russia. The minimum infection rate of YEZV in Russia among I. persulcatus ticks was 0.12% (95% CI: 0.05–0.28). The westernmost and northernmost YEZV detection points have been recorded. YEZV isolates circulating in Russia are genetically diverse. Protein domains of Russian YEZV isolates’ genomes were characterized using HMMER, AlphaFold 3, and InterProScan. The YEZV nucleoprotein (N) of Russian isolates has a racket-shaped structure with “head” and “stalk” domains similar to those of Orthonairovirus haemorrhagiae. The Lys261–Arg261 substitution in the YEZV N Chita 2024-1 isolate occurs in the α11 structure in the region of interaction with viral RNA. Our results show that the distribution area of YEZV is much wider than previously known, provide new data on complete YEZV genomes, extend our structural insight into YEZV N, and suggest a potential target for antiviral drug development to treat YEZV infection.