Arnt Ebinger Arnt Ebinger Pauline D Santos Pauline D Santos Florian Pfaff Florian Pfaff Ralf Dürrwald Ralf Dürrwald Jolanta Kolodziejek Jolanta Kolodziejek Kore Schlottau Kore Schlottau Viktoria Ruf Viktoria Ruf Friederike Liesche-Starnecker Friederike Liesche-Starnecker Armin Ensser Armin Ensser Klaus Korn Klaus Korn Reiner Ulrich Reiner Ulrich Jenny Fürstenau Jenny Fürstenau Kaspar Matiasek Kaspar Matiasek Florian Hansmann Florian Hansmann Torsten Seuberlich Torsten Seuberlich Daniel Nobach Daniel Nobach Matthias Müller Matthias Müller Antonie Neubauer-Juric Antonie Neubauer-Juric Marcel Suchowski Marcel Suchowski Markus Bauswein Markus Bauswein Hans-Helmut Niller Hans-Helmut Niller Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt Dennis Tappe Dennis Tappe Daniel Cadar Daniel Cadar Timo Homeier-Bachmann Timo Homeier-Bachmann Viola C. Haring Viola C. Haring Kirsten Pörtner Kirsten Pörtner Christina Frank Christina Frank Lars Mundhenk Lars Mundhenk Bernd Hoffmann Bernd Hoffmann Jochen Herms Jochen Herms Wolfgang Baumgärtner Wolfgang Baumgärtner Norbert Nowotny Norbert Nowotny Jürgen Schlegel Jürgen Schlegel Rainer G. Ulrich Rainer G. Ulrich Martin Beer Martin Beer Dennis Rubbenstroth Dennis Rubbenstroth Nature Portfolio 2024 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. PDFDocument eng 2025-03-10T13:41:47.473179Z 2024 Animals Borna Disease Virus Genetics Borna Disease Virus Physiology Humans Borna Disease Epidemiology Borna Disease Virology Phylogeography Phylogeny Molecular Epidemiology Shrews Virology Female Male Germany Epidemiology Disease Reservoirs Virology Austria Epidemiology Zoonoses Epidemiology Zoonoses Virology Zoonoses Transmission Switzerland Epidemiology Adult Middle Aged Genome, Viral Genetics 4423698 b application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/