FIG. 1.

Diagram indicating PCR primer positions and amplicon sizes. Primers HS1 and HS6 were used in primary PCRs, and amplicons produced in nested PCRs with the indicated primers were sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the 1,256-bp region flanked by primers HS43 and HSVR was obtained from five of six samples, two of three human patients, and three I. ricinus ticks. Sequences of the regions flanked by primers HS43 and HS45 (442 bp) and primers HSVF and HSVR (395 bp) were obtained from the remaining human patient. The overapping sequences from five samples were identical in size. The sequence from one of the female ticks contained three single nucleotide substitutions: A to G at position 51, G to A at position 450, and T to C at position 660. The sequences were numbered by designating the A of the groEL translation initiation codon nucleotide 1. The nucleotide substitutions did not alter the deduced amino acid sequence.