Active Case Finding of Current Bornavirus Infections in Human Encephalitis Cases of Unknown Etiology, Germany, 2018–2020

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Eisermann, Philip ; Rubbenstroth, Dennis ; Cadar, Daniel ; Thomé-Bolduan, Corinna ; Eggert, Petra ; Schlaphof, Alexander ; Leypoldt, Frank ; Stangel, Martin ; Fortwängler, Thorsten ; Hoffmann, Florian ; Osterman, Andreas ; Zange, Sabine ; Niller, Hans-Helmut ; Angstwurm, Klemens ; Pörtner, Kirsten ; Frank, Christina ; Wilking, Hendrik ; Beer, Martin ; Schmidt-Chanasit, Jonas ; Tappe, Dennis
• Description:
  Human bornavirus encephalitis is a severe and often fatal infection caused by variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1) and Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1). We conducted a prospective study of bornavirus etiology of encephalitis cases in Germany during 2018-2020 by using a serologic testing scheme applied along proposed graded case definitions for VSBV-1, BoDV-1, and unspecified bornavirus encephalitis. Of 103 encephalitis cases of unknown etiology, 4 bornavirus infections were detected serologically. One chronic case was caused by VSBV-1 after occupational-related contact of a person with exotic squirrels, and 3 acute cases were caused by BoDV-1 in virus-endemic areas. All 4 case-patients died. Bornavirus etiology could be confirmed by molecular methods. Serologic testing for these cases was virus specific, discriminatory, and a practical diagnostic option for living patients if no brain tissue samples are available. This testing should be guided by clinical and epidemiologic suspicions, such as residence in virus-endemic areas and animal exposure.
• Subjects:
  Animals Bornaviridae Encephalitis Humans Prospective Studies Rna, Viral Zoonoses
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 27(5):1371-1379
• Pubmed ID:
  33900167
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8084505
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Germany
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  5
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:aef896db54ba24fd0c0414ebd25c99dddf79d20cbca3b6fd76d08acf3bf2d6ff
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/106021/cdc_106021_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.36 MB ]