Razdan virus, a new ungrouped bunyavirus isolated from Dermacentor marginatus ticks in Armenia

A virus, designated Razdan, was isolated from Dermacentor marginatus ticks in the Armenian S.S.R. in 1973. The complement fixation tests revealed no antigenic relationships to 74 tick-borne arboviruses. The size of the virus is about 100 nm; it agglutinates goose erythrocytes at pH 5.5--7.0, is pathogenic for newborn, 14-day-old and adult white mice and multiplies in primary and continuous cell cultures. Morphological properties of the virus permit its classification as a member of the family Bunyaviridae.