Volume 209, February 2024, Pages 31-35Author links open overlay panel, , , , , Abstract

Borna disease (BD) associated with a peracute bacterial septicaemia with Escherichia coli was diagnosed in an adult female, naturally infected, free-ranging Eurasian beaver of the subspecies Castor fiber albicus, clinically characterized by weight loss, depression, weakness and gurgled peristaltic sounds. The beaver was euthanized humanely. Necropsy and light microscopy revealed a non-purulent meningoencephalitis with typical mononuclear perivascular cuffs and parenchymal infiltrates. The diagnosis of BD was confirmed by detection of viral antigen and RNA by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The PCR product was sequenced and cluster analysis revealed a close relationship between endemic clusters in Saxony-Anhalt. This is the first report of naturally occurring BD in a free-ranging Eurasian beaver.

Section snippetsFunding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit-sectors.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Jürgen A. Richt for providing the antibody for IHC and Mrs Tina Fuchs and Mrs Christina Träbert for their excellent technical assistance. We greatly appreciate the support with sequencing from Dr. Knut Krohn and Birgit Oelzner.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship or publication of this manuscript.

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