[Taxonomic status of the Chim virus (CHIMV) (Bunyaviridae, Nairovirus, Qalyub group) isolated from the Ixodidae and Argasidae ticks collected in the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Lichtenstein, 1823) (Muridae, Gerbillinae) burrows in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan].

Full-length genome of the Chim virus (CHIMV) (strain LEIV-858Uz) was sequenced using the next-generation sequencing approach (ID GenBank: KF801656). The CHIMV/LEIV-858Uz was isolated from the Ornithodoros tartakovskyi Olenev, 1931 ticks collected in the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus Lichtenstein, 1823) burrow in Uzbekistan near Chim town (Kashkadarinsky region) in July of 1971. Later, four more CHIMV strains were isolated from the O. tartakovskyi, O. papillipes Birula, 1895, Rhipicephalus turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936 collected in the great gerbil burrows in Kashkadarinsky, Bukhara, and Syrdarya regions of Uzbekistan, and three strains--from the Hyalomma asiaticum Schulze et Schlottke, 1930 from the great gerbil burrows in Dzheskazgan region of Kazakhstan. The virus is a potential pathogen of humans and camels. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the CHIMV is a novel member of the Nairovirus genus (Bunyaviridae) and closely related to the Qalyub virus (QYBV), which is prototype for the group of the same name. The amino acid homology between the CHIMV and QYBV is 87% for the RdRp catalytic center (L-segment) that is coincident with both QYBV and CHIMV associated with the Ornithodoros ticks and burrow of rodents as well. The CHIMV homologies with other nairoviruses are 30-40% for the amino acid sequences of precursor polyprotein GnGc (M-segment), whereas 50%--for the nucleocapsid N (S-segment). The data obtained permit to classify the CHIMV as a member of the QYBV group in the genus of Nairovirus (Bunyaviridae).