A NEW TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS-LIKE VIRUS INFECTING NEW-ENGLAND DEER TICKS, IXODES-DAMMINI

To determine if eastern North American Ixodes dammini, like related ti cks in Eurasia, maintain tick-borne encephalitis group viruses, we ana lyzed ticks collected from sites where the agent of Lyme disease is zo onotic. Two viral isolates were obtained by inoculating mice with homo genates from tick salivary glands. The virus, which was described by r everse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing o f the amplification products, was similar to, but distinct from, Powas san virus and is provisionally named ''deer tick virus.'' Enzootic tic k-borne encephalitis group viruses accompany the agents of Lyme diseas e, babesiosis, and granulocytic ehrlichiosis in a Holarctic assemblage of emergent deer tick pathogens.