The phylodynamics of the rabies virus in the Russian Federation.docx (16.82 kB)
The phylodynamics of the rabies virus in the Russian Federation
Near complete rabies virus
N gene sequences (1,110 nt) were determined for 82 isolates obtained from
different regions of Russia between 2008 and 2016. These sequences were
analyzed together with 108 representative GenBank sequences from 1977-2016
using the Bayesian coalescent approach. The timing of the major evolutionary
events was estimated. Most of the isolates represented the steppe rabies virus
group C, which was found over a vast geographic region from Central Russia to
Mongolia and split into three groups (C0-C2) with discrete geographic
prevalence. A single strain of the steppe rabies virus lineage was isolated in
the far eastern part of Russia (Primorsky Krai), likely as a result of a recent
anthropogenic introduction. For the first time the polar rabies virus group A2,
previously reported in Alaska, was described in the northern part of European
Russia and at the Franz Josef Land. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that all
currently circulating rabies virus groups in the Russian Federation were
introduced within the few last centuries, with most of the groups spreading in the
20th century. The dating of evolutionary events was highly concordant with the
historical epidemiological data.