Borna disease virus and its host

Abstract

Borna disease virus (BDV) is an enveloped virus with a non-segmented genome of single-stranded negative sense RNA persistently infecting the central nervous system of, and thereby causing neurological disorders in, several animal species, possibly including humans. Even though BDV was first isolated in the 1920’s, the disease it causes in horses had been described and studied for several decades. This review provides an overview of the historical BDV work, as well as an update of the current information about the relationship between BDV and its hosts. Special emphasis is given to clinical signs, pathogenesis, virus-host interactions, and epidemiology. Although several aspects of BDV and its pathologies have been studied for more than 100 years, further elucidation of the epidemiology and pathogenesis, and the development of reliable detection methods, is needed.