[Study of virus contamination of Ixodes ticks in the foci of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan].

The data on the contamination of different of ticks with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus on the territory of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan were obtained. The methods of the evaluation of the virus contamination of ticks included the determination of the antigen and CCHF virus RNA by the methods of the enzyme immunoassay and the reverse transcription PCR respectively. Different tick species were found to be involved in the epidemic process: Hyalomma asiaticum, Dermatocentor niveus (Kazakhstan) and Hyalomma anatolicum (Tajikistan). The results obtained in this study confirmed that the main vector of CCHF virus in Central Asia were ticks of the genus Hyalomma, and in Kazakhstan the vectors of this virus also included ticks Dermatocentor niveus.