Phylogenetic analysis of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in inner Mongolia, China

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne arbovirus that can cause bleeding and death in humans. The mortality rate in humans is between 5 and 30%. The pathogen is prevalent in more than 30 countries in the world. In China, the CCHFV has been reported in Xinjiang province but not in Inner Mongolia province yet. In this report, we phylogenetically analyzed a new CCHFV strain, HANM-18, identified from Hyalomma asiaticum and Hyalomma dromedarii collected in Alxa Left Banner and Alxa Right Banner of Inner Mongolia, China. Complete sequences of CCHFV were obtained by the nested PCR technique and used for phylogenetic analysis of the identity and evolutionary relationship with other CCHFV strains. Our results showed that the S and L fragments of the HANM-18 strain had a high percentage of identity with strains in Xinjiang, China. The M fragment was significantly homologous to South African isolates. In addition, these data also indicate that the HANM-18 strain may have been prevalent in northwestern Inner Mongolia for many years. This discovery will be helpful in CCHF prevention and control in Inner Mongolia, and it also adds new evidence to the epidemiology of CCHF in China.