Kupe Virus, a New Virus in the FamilyBunyaviridae, GenusNairovirus, Kenya

We have previously described isolation and preliminary identification of a virus related to Dugbe virus (DUGV), family Bunyaviridae, genus Nairovirus. Six isolates of the virus were obtained from pools of Amblyomma gemma and Rhipicephalus pulchellus ticks collected from hides of cattle in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 1999. We report results of further characterization of this virus, including growth kinetics in cell culture and full-length genome sequencing and genetic characterization, which show it to be distinct from DUGV. We suggest that this is a new virus in the family Bunyaviridae, genus Nairovirus, and we propose that it be designated Kupe virus.