Eight fatal cases of sickness de Borna have been newly identified in patients with previously unexplained viral encephalitis, according to German researchers after whom other cases could be diagnosed.
All patients newly diagnosed with the virus died between 1999 and 2019, and all lived in southernGermany, according to a study released Wednesday.
The authors suggest that more often tests for the presence of Borna virus or bornavirus, in the event of nervous system disorders of rapid course and of unknown cause, in order to be able to establish the true extent of the infection in humans.
The virus’s reservoir host is a small insectivorous wild animal with a pointed nose, sometimes mistaken for a mouse, the two-colored white-toothed shrew (Crocidura leucodon, from its scholarly name).
Brain inflammation
Borna disease, which owes its name to a German city, was described at the end of the 18th century. It is an inflammation of the brain and non-purulent meninges affecting in particular horses and sheep.
Symptoms in infected people start with fever, headache and confusion, and continue with signs of brain disease such as unsteady gait, memory loss, seizures, and progressive loss of consciousness .
In the new cases, the patients’ condition deteriorated rapidly after admission to the hospital, resulting in a deep coma and death. The eight patients died within 16 to 57 days of admission, according to a study in The Lancet Infectious Deseases.
The study involved 56 patients who had developed signs of encephalitis in the past 20 years. It allowed brain tissue analyzes of deceased patients.
The exact route of transmission in question
The authors point out one of the limitations of their study: they were unable to establish an exact route of transmission from shrews to humans.
However, the information available on 14 patients shows contact with animals, life in rural or suburban areas, agricultural work and other outdoor activities for most of them. In at least seven cases, close contact with cats has been reported. When cats hunt, they can introduce shrews into homes and expose humans to them.
Shrews infected with this virus are found in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The role of the virus has aroused “Several decades of controversy”, But “It’s time to relaunch research on the human Borna virus” integrating “Knowledge of these confirmed cases” in patients, said in a review comment, Dr. Tomoyuki Honda of the University of Osaka (Japan).
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