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. 2011 Aug 17;26(4):229. doi: 10.1007/s12250-011-3211-z

Epidemiology and mutational analysis of global strains of crimean-congo haemorrhagic fever virus

Na Han 1, Simon Rayner 1,✉
PMCID: PMC8222426  PMID: 21847754

Abstract

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a severe illness with high fatality. Cases are reported in several countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Phylogenetic analyses based on the virus S (nucleocapsid), M (glycoprotein), and L (polymerase) genome segments sequences indicate distinct geographic lineages exist but their specific genetic characteristics require elucidation. In this work we collected all full length S segment sequences and generated a phylogenetic tree based on the alignment of these 62 samples. We then analyzed the alignment using entries from AAIndex, the Amino Acid Index database, to identify amino acid mutations that performed significant changes in charge, pka, hydropathy and side chain volume. Finally, we mapped these changes back to the tree and alignment to identify correlated mutations or sites that characterized a specific lineage. Based on this analysis we are able to propose a number of sites that appear to be important for virus function and which would be good candidates for experimental mutational analysis studies.

Key words: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), Epidemiology, Mutational Analysis

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