title: Neurotropic astrovirus in cattle with nonsuppurative encephalitis in Europe.
abstract: Encephalitis is a frequently diagnosed condition in cattle with neurological diseases. Many affected animals present with a nonsuppurative inflammatory reaction pattern in the brain. While this pattern supports a viral etiology, the causative pathogen remains unknown in a large proportion of cases. Using viral metagenomics, we identified an astrovirus (bovine astrovirus [BoAstV]-CH13) in the brain of a cow with nonsuppurative encephalitis. Additionally, BoAstV RNA was detected with reverse transcription-PCR and in situ hybridization in about one fourth (5/22 animals) of cattle with nonsuppurative encephalitis of unknown etiology. Viral RNA was found primarily in neurons and at the site of pathology. These findings support the notion that BoAstV infection is a common cause of encephalitis in cattle. Phylogenetically, BoAstV-CH13 was closely related to rare astrovirus isolates from encephalitis cases in animals and a human patient. Future research needs to be directed toward the pathogenic mechanisms, epidemiology, and potential cross-species transmission of these neurotropic astroviruses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ilias G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Bouzalas
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wüthrich
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walland
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cord
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drögemüller
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zurbriggen
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vandevelde
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oevermann
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruggmann
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Sciences, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland torsten.seuberlich@vetsuisse.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seuberlich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D005060:Europe; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral