The Borna virus claimed its first victim across the Rhine in 1999. A total of 8 people have been killed so far. If this figure seems very low, the Borna virus is subject to controversy, as a recent study shows.
A little known mode of transmission to humans
The Borna disease (or bornavirus) starts with fever and a headache leading to encephalitis. When the disease worsens, the patient is affected by memory loss, progressive loss of consciousness, impaired walking and seizures. Its name, Borna, comes from the eponymous city located in Saxony (Germany). In this locality in 1885, an epidemic of the disease was declared in horses.
You should know that today, bornavirus is mainly transmitted by the two-colored shrew with white teeth (Crocidura leucodon). However, the mode of transmission to humans is still very little known. A study conducted in Germany and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases January 7, 2020 took a closer look.
The study reports 8 patients who died from 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. German researchers did this by analyzing their post-mortem brain tissue. This is how Borna’s disease was brought up, having killed the 8 German victims between 16 and 57 days following their arrival at the hospital.
Credits: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
In contact with animals
Researchers say they have found information on the lifestyle of 14 of 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 study leaders sequenced the bornavirus gene (BoDV-1) in the eight deceased patients. However, the results were different each time. Sometimes this corresponded to the same type of virus identified in sheep (or horses) living in the same place as the patient. In any case, this made it possible to understand that the infections were independently of each other. So it was not an epidemic.
Although ultimately few victims and its mode of transmission still relatively unknown, the Borna virus was detected in humans in other countries. This is the case for the United States and Japan. Finally, it turns out that for several decades, research was hampered by an unanswered question. No one knew that the Borna virus could actually be transmitted to humans.
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