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Volume 32, Number 5—May 2026

Synopsis

Borna Disease Virus 1 as Cause of Fatal Meningoencephalomyelitis in Wild Hedgehogs, Germany, 2022–2025

Effrosyni Michelakaki, Benjamin Schade, Brigitte Boehm, Eva Kappe, Marcel Suchowski, Anne Kupca, Magdalena Schumacher, Anna Maria Gager, Friederike Liesche-Starnecker, Sonja Fiedler, Eva Schwarz, Zoltan Bago, Andreas Blutke, Martin Beer, Dennis Rubbenstroth1Comments to Author , and Kaspar Matiasek1
Author affiliation: Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany (E. Michelakaki, S. Fiedler, E. Schwarz, A. Blutke, K. Matiasek); Bavarian Animal Health Service, Poing, Germany (B. Schade, B. Boehm, E. Kappe); Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany (M. Suchowski, A. Kupca, M. Schumacher, A.M. Gager); University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany (F. Liesche-Starnecker); Institute for Veterinary Disease Control, Mödling, Austria (Z. Bago); Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany (M. Beer, D. Rubbenstroth)

Main Article

Figure 8

Phylogeographic analysis of Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) infections in hedgehogs in Bavaria in study of the virus as cause of fatal meningoencephalomyelitis in wild hedgehogs, Germany, 2022–2025. A) Phylogenetic analysis of partial genomic BoDV-1 sequences (N, X, and P genes, encoding the nucleoprotein, accessory X protein, and phosphoprotein, respectively; 1,824 nucleotides, representing genome positions 54–1,877) of all 15 BoDV-1-infected hedgehogs in combination with 258 BoDV-1 sequences from naturally infected animals and humans available from public databases (1,9). Colors of tree branches represent BoDV-1 sequence clusters. Grey boxes mark the subtrees shown in detail in panels B and C. B, C) Detailed presentation of the subtree of cluster 1A, 1B (B), and of clusters 2–5 (C), which contain all 15 hedgehog-derived sequences (black text). Colors of vertical bars represent subclades of cluster 1A and 2 (1). D) BoDV-1-endemic area in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein (1). Colors represent the phylogenetic clusters shown in panel A. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). E, F) Detailed phylogeographic mapping of BoDV-1 cases from the phylogenetic subtree of cluster 1A (E) as shown in panel B or cluster 2 (F) as shown in panel C, to their distribution areas in Bavaria. Colors represent the different subclades. For data protection, human cases are mapped no more precisely than to the center of the administrative district of their origin.

Figure 8. Phylogeographic analysis of Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) infections in hedgehogs in Bavaria in study of the virus as cause of fatal meningoencephalomyelitis in wild hedgehogs, Germany, 2022–2025. A) Phylogenetic analysis of partial genomic BoDV-1 sequences (N, X, and P genes, encoding the nucleoprotein, accessory X protein, and phosphoprotein, respectively; 1,824 nucleotides, representing genome positions 54–1,877) of all 15 BoDV-1-infected hedgehogs in combination with 258 BoDV-1 sequences from naturally infected animals and humans available from public databases (1,9). Colors of tree branches represent BoDV-1 sequence clusters. Grey boxes mark the subtrees shown in detail in panels B and C. B, C) Detailed presentation of the subtree of cluster 1A, 1B (B), and of clusters 2–5 (C), which contain all 15 hedgehog-derived sequences (black text). Colors of vertical bars represent subclades of cluster 1A and 2 (1). D) BoDV-1-endemic area in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein (1). Colors represent the phylogenetic clusters shown in panel A. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). E, F) Detailed phylogeographic mapping of BoDV-1 cases from the phylogenetic subtree of cluster 1A (E) as shown in panel B or cluster 2 (F) as shown in panel C, to their distribution areas in Bavaria. Colors represent the different subclades. For data protection, human cases are mapped no more precisely than to the center of the administrative district of their origin.

Main Article

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Main Article

1These senior authors contributed equally to this article.

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