Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases 2322-1984 10 2 2016 05 05 127 140 EN Sadegh Chinikar Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers Laboratory (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Saeid Bouzari Department of Molecular Biology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Ali Shokrgozar National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Ehsan Mostafavi Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Tahmineh Jalali Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers Laboratory (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Sahar Khakifirouz Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers Laboratory (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Norbert Nowotny Institute of Virology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria Anthony R. Fooks Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Wildlife Zoonoses and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Group, Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, United Kingdom Nariman Shah-Hosseini Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers Laboratory (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran 2015 10 12 2015 10 12 Background: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a member of the Bunyaviridae family and Nairovirus genus. It has a negative-sense, single stranded RNA genome approximately 19.2 kb, containing the Small, Medium, and Large segments. CCHFVs are relatively divergent in their genome sequence and grouped in seven distinct clades based on S-segment sequence analysis and six clades based on M-segment sequences. Our aim was to obtain new insights into the molecular epidemiology of CCHFV in Iran. Methods: We analyzed partial and complete nucleotide sequences of the S and M segments derived from 50 Iranian patients. The extracted RNA was amplified using one-step RT-PCR and then sequenced. The sequences were ana­lyzed using Mega5 software. Results: Phylogenetic analysis of partial S segment sequences demonstrated that clade IV-(Asia 1), clade IV-(Asia 2) and clade V-(Europe) accounted for 80 %, 4 % and 14 % of the circulating genomic variants of CCHFV in Iran respectively. However, one of the Iranian strains (Iran-Kerman/22) was associated with none of other sequences and formed a new clade (VII). The phylogenetic analysis of complete S-segment nucleotide sequences from selected Ira­nian CCHFV strains complemented with representative strains from GenBank revealed similar topology as partial sequences with eight major clusters. A partial M segment phylogeny positioned the Iranian strains in either associa­tion with clade III (Asia-Africa) or clade V (Europe). Conclusion: The phylogenetic analysis revealed subtle links between distant geographic locations, which we pro­pose might originate either from international livestock trade or from long-distance carriage of CCHFV by infected ticks via bird migration. https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/142 https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/download/142/128