Borna Disease Virus 1 in Germany

Zoonotic viruses are responsible for numerous human diseases, such as rabies, avian flu or Ebola fever. Researchers have now published that another zoonotic virus, the Borna Disease Virus-1 (BoDV-1), has been the cause of several fatal cases of encephalitis in humans in Germany in recent years (the study). This is remarkable in that until 2018 a zoonotic potential was only attributed to the Borna Disease virus from Variegated Squirrel Bornavirus-1 (VSBV-1), but not to other Borna viruses. Prof. Dr. Martin Beer, member of the Internal Advisory Board of the Zoonoses Platform and head of the Institute for Virus Diagnostics at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute on the Isle of Riems, was involved in the study. We asked him about the current state of research on Borna Disease Virus-1 in Germany.