Abdiyeva et al.
Vectors, molecular epidemiology and phylogeny of TBEV in Kazakhstan and central Asia.
Parasit Vectors. 2020; 13: 504
The TBE virus has been isolated for the first time in Kazakhstan by Chumakov in 1941. In Kazakhstan, the incidence of TBE is reported to be 0.16/100,000 up to 0.32/100,000 inhabitants. In the 10-year period from 2009-2018, a total of 375 TBE cases have been registered in Kazakhstan (see Snapshot week 35/2020). For the three years 2016-2018, 128 cases have been reported.
A field study has been carried out in May and June 2015 by flagging at 32 locations in Almaty oblast in East Kazakhstan and in Kyzylorda oblast, in South-Central Kazakhstan. Overall, 2341 ticks have been collected. Most ticks were Ixodes persulcatus, followed by Dermacentor marginatus and Haemaphysalis punctata. Some specimens of D. reticulatus, Rhipicephalus turanicus and Hyalomma asiaticum were found. TBE virus RNA could only be identified in ticks collected in Almaty oblast with a minimal infection rate of 2.8% (3.9% in I. persulcatus, 1.6% in D. marginatum and 0.2% in H. punctata). Phylogenetic analyses of the E gene sequence from 31 samples classified the strains as Siberian subtype.