[Isolation of the Tahyña bunyavirus in the Arctic]

Tahyna virus (Bunyaviridae, Bunyavirus, the California encephalitis complex) was isolated from Aedes communis complex mosquitoes collected at the border of the north-taiga landscape zone (in latitude 68 degrees North and longitude 33 degrees East) at the Kolsky peninsula (the Murmansk region). The LEIV-9843 Mur strain was isolated from 2.4 thousand mosquitoes collected there (altogether 3.8 thousand mosquitoes had been collected in the Murmansk region). This is the first isolation in the USSR of a California complex virus in the Arctic and the northernmost site of Tahyna virus isolation in the world. 18% of the human population residing near the site of the virus isolation had virus-neutralizing antibody to Tahyna virus.