ABSTRACT
The prototype strain LEIV-Ast 01-5 of the unclassified enveloped RNA-containing Khurdun virus, less than 220 nm in size, which is widely distributed among coots (Fulica atra) in the Volga River delta, was deposited on November 4, 2004, at the State Virus Collection (SVC # 992). The virus was isolated annually (2001-2004) with a frequency of 2.3-8.5% (mean 6.3%) when examining 348 coots caught in the lower and middle zones of the Volga River delta. Virological examinations used mixed pools of the brain and spleen to inoculate neonatal albino mice and the cellular line Vero-E6. One strain was isolated from a pygmy cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus). The virus could not be isolated from other species of 1080 birds, 20 hares, 140,000 mosquitoes of 5 predominant species, and 6,700 Hyalomma marginatum ticks. Any antigenic relationship of the virus with all the viruses early isolated in the Northern Caspian Sea region has not been found. ELISA has been developed to detect and identify Khurdun virus antigen.
