Comparison of the S RNA segments and nucleoprotein sequences of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Hazara, and Dugbe viruses.

The S RNA segments of the nairoviruses Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus (Chinese isolate) and Hazara (HAZ) virus were cloned and sequenced from PCR products. The RNAs comprise 1672 and 1677 nucleotides, respectively, and each encodes a protein in the viral complementary strand (54.0 and 54.2 kDa, respectively). The deduced protein sequences show homology to each other and to the nucleoprotein of Dugbe (DUG) nairovirus, although both the CCHF and HAZ viral proteins are larger. Alignment of the nucleoprotein sequences of CCHF, HAZ, and DUG viruses show that the CCHF and HAZ sequences are somewhat more closely related to each other (60.0% identity) than either is to the DUG sequence (55.4 and 53.0% identity, respectively); 39.5% of residues are identical across all three proteins. The carboxyl-terminus of DUG N protein shows a 40-residue deletion relative to the N proteins of the other two viruses.