Two strains of West Nile virus, Vlg 27889 and Ast 986, were isolated from the brain of a dead man and from the blood of a patient, respectively, during an outbreak of serous meningitis and meningoencephalitis in July-September, 1999, in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions. Analysis of parts of genome of the strains cloned from cell culture by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction demonstrated their identity and appurtenance to group I West Nile viruses.