The red squirrel Bornavirus 1 ( English Variegated Squirrel Bornavirus 1 , abbreviated VSBV-1 ) is the only previously described subtype of the mammalian Bornavirus 2 ( scientifically Mammalian 2 orthobornavirus ) . Its natural host is the red squirrel ( Sciurus variegatoides ) and other species of squirrel . The red squirrel bornavirus 1 was isolated when fatal encephalitis developed in breeders of this squirrel species in Saxony-Anhalt between 2011 and 2013 and this virus was identified as the only infectious agent for the first time in cerebrospinal fluid and brain biopsies.
The red squirrel bornavirus 1 does not cause any disease in the infected animals and, as a zoonosis (zooanthroponosis), can cause potentially fatal encephalitis in humans. The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) was able to identify a matching gene sequence in a colored squirrel from the breeding of those affected and in tissue samples from the brains of the deceased breeders via metagenomic analysis, which indicated the occurrence of a novel Borna virus. No information is available about the origin of the virus, the epidemiology and the potential transmission routes of this zoonosis; scratches or bite marks are assumed to be the likely transmission routes. In January 2016 it was announced that further infected animals could be identified in zoos and with private owners, including species of the beautiful squirrel (Callosciurinae).
↑ Bernd Hoffmann, Dennis Tappe, Dirk Höpe u. a .: A Variegated Squirrel Bornavirus Associated with Fatal Human Encephalitis. In: The New England Journal of Medicine. (N Engl J Med) 2015, Volume 373, pp. 154-16, doi: 10.1056 / NEJMoa1415627 .
