Norbert Nowotny Norbert Nowotny Maria Lucia Mandola Maria Lucia Mandola Isabella Monne Isabella Monne Zoltán Bagó Zoltán Bagó Chiara Nogarol Chiara Nogarol Alice Fusaro Alice Fusaro Katharina Dimmel Katharina Dimmel Barbara Moroni Barbara Moroni Lisa Guardone Lisa Guardone Jolanta Kolodziejek Jolanta Kolodziejek Elisa Palumbo Elisa Palumbo Gabriela Stanclova Gabriela Stanclova Adi Steinrigl Adi Steinrigl Gabriele Fidler Gabriele Fidler Cristina Bertasio Cristina Bertasio Irene Bertoletti Irene Bertoletti Alessandro Bianchi Alessandro Bianchi Mattia Calzolari Mattia Calzolari Paola Prati Paola Prati Nadia Vicari Nadia Vicari Angela Salomoni Angela Salomoni Maria Francesca Priore Maria Francesca Priore Federica Gobbo Federica Gobbo Aitor Garcia-Vozmediano Aitor Garcia-Vozmediano Tom Loney Tom Loney Ahmad Abou Tayoun Ahmad Abou Tayoun Alawi Alsheikh-Ali Alawi Alsheikh-Ali Paola De Benedictis Paola De Benedictis Jeremy V Camp Jeremy V Camp Zdenek Hubalek Zdenek Hubalek Ivo Rudolf Ivo Rudolf Davide Lelli Davide Lelli Ana Moreno Ana Moreno MDPI 2025 The European subtype of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV-Eur; species Orthoflavivirus encephalitidis, family Flaviviridae) was the only tick-borne flavivirus present in central Europe known to cause neurologic disease in humans and several animal species. Here, we report a tick-borne flavivirus isolated from Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra) with encephalitis and attached ticks, present over a wide area in the Alps. Cases were detected in 2017 in Salzburg, Austria, and 2023 in Lombardy and Piedmont, Italy. The virus strains exhibit 94.8-97.3% nucleotide identities to each other and are more closely related to Louping ill viruses (LIV; Orthoflavivirus loupingi; 90-92% identities) than to TBEV-Eur (less than 88%). The chamois-derived virus strains, tentatively termed "Alpine chamois encephalitis virus", form a well-supported independent genetic clade with Spanish goat encephalitis virus, clearly separated from other LIV. This supports its designation as a new virus subtype with the proposed shared taxonomic name "Spanish goat and Alpine chamois encephalitis virus subtype" within the species Orthoflavivirus loupingi. The zoonotic potential of this newly identified virus subtype as well as its host range in other animal species including farm animals needs to be further investigated. PDFDocument eng 2025-03-04T13:56:44.427248Z 2025 Animals Rupicapra Virology Italy Phylogeny Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne Isolation & Purification Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne Classification Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne Genetics Austria Flavivirus Isolation & Purification Flavivirus Classification Flavivirus Genetics Encephalitis, Tick-Borne vVirology Flavivirus Infections Veterinary Flavivirus Infections Virology Flavivirus Infections Epidemiology Genome, Viral Ticks Virology Goat Diseases Virology 7539556 b application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/