Second Borna virus patient from Pfaffenhofen also dies

After weeks in the hospital, the second patient infected with the Borna virus from Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm in Upper Bavaria has also died. The district office confirmed this. Several media outlets had initially reported on the death.

The exact routes of infection in these cases are still being investigated by experts from the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL).

Borna Disease Virus 1 (BoDV-1) is found in the European shrew , which is considered a vector. How exactly the virus is transmitted to humans is not yet clear. The animals excrete the virus in urine, feces, and saliva. Therefore, contact with it should be avoided. Live or dead animals should not be touched with bare hands. Masks should be worn when cleaning garden sheds or barns.

At the beginning of June, the district office hosted an information event about the two cases and answered questions from concerned residents. According to the LGL, 57 human cases have been confirmed so far. The majority were in Bavaria. Infections often affected people living on the outskirts of towns.

Antiviral and immunosuppressive therapy are available. Ultimately, experts believe it is the excessive immune response that triggers the severe and often fatal symptoms.

Although the pathogen has long been known to occur in animals, it was only in 2018 that it was proven that BoDV-1 is also transmissible to humans, causing usually fatal encephalitis. The disease has been notifiable since 2020.

According to the RKI, the following symptoms are known so far:

• Initial stage : headache, fever, general feeling of illness
• Further course : neurological symptoms, for example behavioral abnormalities and speech and gait disorders
• Advanced stage: coma