Munich (dpa / lby) – In the district of Mühldorf am Inn, a person has been infected with the rare Borna virus. The case occurred in the western part of the district, the district office announced on Tuesday. The district did not provide any further information on the usually life-threatening infection.
According to the district office, it is in contact with the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), which will take the current case into account in its research. In the district of Mühldorf am Inn, two more Borna virus infections had become known in the past three years.
Classic Borna viruses trigger encephalitis, which ends fatally in almost all cases. On average, two infections are reported in Germany each year. However, scientists assume that the number of unreported cases is higher – with up to six cases per year. According to the LGL, seven infections were known throughout Germany in 2021, five of them in Bavaria. Two infected people who had had organs transplanted from a deceased died.
The only known host of the pathogen is the field shrew, in which the infection does not cause any severe symptoms. The shrews shed the virus in their urine, feces and saliva. Other mammals and, in rare cases, humans can also become infected.
