ena-STUDY-Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute-10-01-2018-16:18:24:799-1492
Fatal encephalitic Borna disease virus 1 infection cluster in solid organ transplant recipients
The existence of human infections  with classical Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) has been an unsolved controversial. Here we describe the first confirmed cases of BoDV-1 infection in humans associated with a fatal pan-encephalomyelitis  in two kidney-graft-recipients with high BoDV-1 genome loads in the central nervous system and leukoencephalopathy with retinopathy, progressive optic nerve atrophy and a strong BoDV-1-specific seroconversion in the liver-graft-recipient. All organs were donated from the same donor. These findings suggest that BoDV-1 can be transmitted during solid organ transplantation and can lead to potentially lethal disease in immunocompromised patients.
The existence of human infections  with classical Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) has been an unsolved controversial. Here we describe the first confirmed cases of BoDV-1 infection in humans associated with a fatal pan-encephalomyelitis  in two kidney-graft-recipients with high BoDV-1 genome loads in the central nervous system and leukoencephalopathy with retinopathy, progressive optic nerve atrophy and a strong BoDV-1-specific seroconversion in the liver-graft-recipient. All organs were donated from the same donor. These findings suggest that BoDV-1 can be transmitted during solid organ transplantation and can lead to potentially lethal disease in immunocompromised patients.