No nonsynonymous mutations were observed in the envelope gene of the 11 sequences determined for human AHFV cases or in tick and human AHFV sequences.
As shown in the Figure, the AHFV-JE7 sequence was closely related to but unambiguously distinct from all other AHFV sequences from human isolates.
Sequences from the 11 AHFV isolates were compared with homologous sequences representing other tickborne flaviviruses retrieved from the GenBank database: Langat virus (LGTV) (M73835), Powassan virus (POWV) (L06436), deer tick virus (DTV) (AF311056), Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus (OHFV) (AY323489), Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV) (AY323490 for envelope sequence, and personal data for NS3 and NS5 sequence), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) Neudoerfl strain (U27495), Hypr strain (U39392), Vasilchenko strain (L40361), Sofjin strain (AB062064), and Louping ill virus (LIV) (Y07863).
(8), which permitted the evaluation of divergence times among AHFV isolates and between AHFV and KFDV.