The Borna virus claimed its first victim across the Rhine in 1999. So far, a total of 8 people have been swept away. If this figure seems very low, the Borna virus is controversial, as shown by a recent study.
Borna disease (or bornavirus) begins with fever and headache leading to encephalitis. When the disease worsens, the patient is affected by memory loss, a progressive loss of consciousness , impaired gait and seizures. Its name, Borna, comes from the eponymous town located in Saxony (Germany). In this locality in 1885, an epidemic of the disease had declared itself in horses.
You should know that today, bornavirus is mainly transmitted by the bicolor white-toothed shrew (Crocidura leucodon) . However, the mode of transmission to humans is still very poorly known. A study conducted in Germany and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on January 7, 2020 took a closer look.
Study reports 8 patients died of Borna disease between 1999 and 2019. In total, there were 56 patients who all showed signs of encephalitis, a rarely fatal disorder. However, at the time of their death, the cause could not be identified. The German researchers achieved this by analyzing their post-mortem brain tissue. This is how Borna disease was evoked, having carried away the 8 German victims between 16 and 57 days following their arrival at the hospital.
The researchers say they found information on the lifestyle of 14 of the 56 patients . Most had been in contact with animals, lived in rural areas and were farmers (or other outdoor work). Some have been in contact with cats that may have brought their prey home, such as the famous shrew.
Thus, the leaders of the study sequenced the bornavirus gene (BoDV-1) in the eight deceased patients. However, the results were different each time. Sometimes it corresponded to the same type of virus identified in sheep (or horses) living in the same place as the patient. In any case, this had made it possible to understand that the infections were made independently of each other . So it was not an epidemic.
Although ultimately claiming few victims and its mode of transmission still relatively unknown, the Borna virus has been detected in humans in other countries . This is the case of the United States and Japan. Finally, it turns out that for several decades, research has been hampered by a question that remains unanswered. Indeed, no one knew that the Borna virus could actually be transmitted to humans.
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