In Bavaria, another person has fallen ill with the rare Borna virus. The district office announced that the infection was detected in the Erding district. The authorities did not comment on the person’s health.

Infections with the disease, which is probably primarily transmitted by tree shrews, are life-threatening in most cases. Less than ten cases are reported across Germany every year, the majority of them from Bavaria.

The Erding Health Department is in close contact with the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) during the investigation into the cause of the infection.

How to protect yourself from the Borna virus

The Borna Disease Virus 1 (BoDV-1) occurs in the field shrew. Experts believe that transmission occurs through contact with their excretion. Infected animals excrete the virus through feces, urine, saliva and the skin, among other things, without becoming ill themselves. People who live on the outskirts of town were often affected by infections. Various animal species such as horses, sheep and hedgehogs can also become ill.

If you live in the distribution area of ​​shrews, you should take measures to protect yourself from possible infection:

• It is best to wear protective gloves when working in the garden, sheds and stables to avoid contact with shrews and their droppings.
• When disposing of a dead mouse, rubber gloves, safety glasses, and a mask should be worn.
• If you notice live shrews in your home or work environment, it is important to identify their food source and remove it from them. Outdoors, this can include dog and cat food, compost piles or other waste.
• Pet or feed shrews never.

Map shows where Borna virus risk is highest

Where the Borna virus occurs more frequently

The shrew and therefore also the Borna virus are loud Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) is regionally limited, namely in parts

• Eastern Germany, especially Saxony-Anhalt, but also Thuringia (northeast), Brandenburg (northwest), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (south)
• Southern Germany, especially Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg (east)
• Austria (Upper Austria)
• Liechtenstein
• Switzerland (St. Gallen, Graubünden)

Why is the virus only found in certain regions? On this explains Martin BeerHead of the Institute for Virus Diagnostics at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute: “Two things can be said: On the one hand, the reservoir host must be present, and on the other hand, Borna does not have to occur everywhere where the host occurs. Unfortunately, we cannot yet say why this is the case.”

The field shrew prefers to live in the regions mentioned, according to the nature magazine “Natuva“Habitats that are densely vegetated and provide it with food and shelter, including

• fields
• meadows
• Gardens
• hedges
• and forest edges.

Since tree shrews are very adaptable, they can also live in urban environments if there is enough cover.

Several deaths in Bavaria

There were several deaths in Bavaria last year. A 57-year-old person died in the Tirschenreuth district in Upper Palatinate in the fall. A few months earlier, two people from the Upper Bavarian district of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm died of the Borna virus. At the time, there was initially no explanation for the cluster of two Borna cases in the area.

Few therapy options

There is the possibility of antiviral and immunosuppressive therapy. Ultimately, according to experts, it is the excessive immune reaction that triggers the severe and usually fatal symptoms.

The pathogen has been known in animals for a long time. However, it has only been proven since 2018 that BoDV-1 can also be transmitted to humans and usually causes fatal encephalitis. The disease has been reportable since 2020.