New Squirrel Virus Linked to 3 Deaths in Germany

Are you in danger from this newly discovered bornavirus?

At least two of the three men were known to have been bit or scratched by variegated squirrels, an exotic breed native to southern Mexico and Central America, leading researchers to run genetic tests on one of the animals. “The role of new bornavirus in the aetiology of these cases, the identification of natural hosts, reservoirs, and transmission route require additional investigations”. Researchers aren’t quite sure how the captive animals contracted the variegated squirrel 1 bornavirus (VSBV-1), and they also don’t know if the virus originated from Central America as well.

According to reports, three men may have died from a virus that apparently was transmitted from animals, particularly squirrels, to these men.

Bornaviruses typically infect birds, horses, and sheep, and there has been little scientific consensus as to whether or not they could be passed along to humans.

Symptoms of infection include the chills, weakness and fever, followed by difficulty in walking and general confusion. The condition, characterized by swelling of the brain, is usually caused by a virus, however testing did not reveal what caused their brains to swell.

Bites and/or scratches from infected squirrels resulted in three fatal bouts of encephalitis, according to a statement from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, in which the organization details the discovery as an “emerging threat”. All three men were hospitalized and treated in intensive care units, but each eventually went into a coma and died within two to four months of their first symptoms, the report said. However, the tests performed do not definitely prove the VSBV-1 virus caused the deadly cases of encephalitis.

“Pending the completion of the cluster investigation, feeding or direct contact with living or dead variegated squirrels should be avoided as a precautionary measure”, the ECDC added.

“VSBV-1 is likely to be a previously unknown zoonotic pathogen transmitted by the variegated squirrel”, the researchers, from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Germany, wrote in the July 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.