University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna 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. en TEXT journal article Wissenschaftlicher Artikel Text journal article Text Wissenschaftlicher Artikel 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 2024 2024 Arnt Ebinger Pauline D Santos Florian Pfaff Ralf Dürrwald Jolanta Kolodziejek Kore Schlottau Viktoria Ruf Friederike Liesche-Starnecker Armin Ensser Klaus Korn Reiner Ulrich Jenny Fürstenau Kaspar Matiasek Florian Hansmann Torsten Seuberlich Daniel Nobach Matthias Müller Antonie Neubauer-Juric Marcel Suchowski Markus Bauswein Hans-Helmut Niller Barbara Schmidt Dennis Tappe Daniel Cadar Timo Homeier-Bachmann Viola C. Haring Kirsten Pörtner Christina Frank Lars Mundhenk Bernd Hoffmann Jochen Herms Wolfgang Baumgärtner Norbert Nowotny Jürgen Schlegel Rainer G. Ulrich Martin Beer Dennis Rubbenstroth Nature Portfolio