Isolation of an English uukuvirus (family Bunyaviridae).

A virus of the Uukuniemi serogroup was isolated from various organs of a moribund kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and from ticks (Ixodes uriae) that were feeding on the bird. The kittiwake was found on Marsden beach, north-east England. This is the first virus in the family Bunyaviridae to have been isolated in England and only the second English arthropod-borne virus after louping ill virus, family Togaviridae (Smith & Varma, 1981). The possibility of infection of humans by uukuviruses is discussed.