Lethal Borna disease virus 1 infections of humans and animals – in-depth molecular epidemiology and phylogeography
Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) is the causative agent of Borna disease, a fatal neurologic disorder of domestic mammals and humans, resulting from spill-over infection from its natural reservoir host, the bicolored white-toothed shrew (Crocidura leucodon). The known BoDV-1-endemic area is remarkably restricted to parts of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. To gain comprehensive data on its occurrence, we analysed diagnostic material from suspected BoDV-1-induced encephalitis cases based on clinical and/or histopathological diagnosis. BoDV-1 infection was confirmed by RT-qPCR in 207 domestic mammals, 28 humans and seven wild shrews. Thereby, this study markedly raises the number of published laboratory-confirmed human BoDV-1 infections and provides a first comprehensive summary. Generation of 136 new BoDV-1 genome sequences from animals and humans facilitated an in-depth phylogeographic analysis, allowing for the definition of risk areas for zoonotic BoDV-1 transmission and facilitating the assessment of geographical infection sources. Consistent with the low mobility of its reservoir host, BoDV-1 sequences showed a remarkable geographic association, with individual phylogenetic clades occupying distinct areas. The closest genetic relatives of most human-derived BoDV-1 sequences were located at distances of less than 40 km, indicating that spill-over transmission from the natural reservoir usually occurs in the patient´s home region.
Authors
- Pauline Dianne Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4324-5967)
- Norbert Nowotny (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3548-571X)
- Dennis Rubbenstroth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8209-6274)
- Kaspar Matiasek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5021-3280)
- Christina Frank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6776-8450)
- Antonie Neubauer‐Juric (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9867-1261)
- Lars Mundhenk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9033-9360)
- Reiner Ulrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9403-1224)
- Jenny Fürstenau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-1403)
- Kore Schlottau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3999-0393)
- Viola C. Haring
- Dániel Cadar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8063-2766)
- Barbara Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6828-5546)
- Armin Ensser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8873-3863)
- Martin Beer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0598-5254)
- Wolfgang Baumgärtner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8151-5644)
- Florian Pfaff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0178-6183)
- Jürgen Schlegel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5544-2717)
- Rainer G. Ulrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5620-1528)
- Florian Hansmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6064-7728)
- Markus Bauswein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2371-5063)
- Ralf Dürrwald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3432-0438)
- Bernd Hoffmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5358-6445)
- Daniel Nobach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6279-7412)
- Jochen Herms (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6201-1042)
- Friederike Liesche‐Starnecker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1948-1580)
- Viktoria Ruf
- Timo Homeier‐Bachmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8135-3814)
- Matthias Philipp Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1529-8933)
- Torsten Seuberlich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6800-5129)
- Dennis Tappe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4493-0395)
- Jolanta Kolodziejek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5736-3644)
- Kirsten Pörtner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8191-8056)
- Arnt Ebinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8451-5719)
- Klaus Korn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1891-2107)
- Marcel Suchowski
- Hans-Helmut Niller
Institutions
- University of Bern (CH)
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (DE)
- University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (AT)
- University of Augsburg (DE)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (DE)
- Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE)
- Robert Koch Institute (DE)
- University Hospital Regensburg (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (DE)
- Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (AE)
- National Influenza Center (MN)
- Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt Stuttgart (DE)
- University of Regensburg (DE)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52192-x
- Citations
- 22
- Primary Topic
- Virology and Viral Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.51
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung