Detection of antibodies to Borna disease virus in Turkish cats by using recombinant p40

Recombinant p40 produced by baculovirus was used in an ELISA to screen samples of serum taken from 80 cats in Istanbul. The sera were also analysed for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV). Antibodies to Borna disease virus- (BDV) p40 were detected in 34 (42.5 per cent) of the 80 cats. Seventy-three per cent of the sera which were positive for FIV and 26 per cent of the sera which were negative for FIV had antibodies to BDV. There was no difference in the percentage of sera which were positive for BDV between the cats that were positive or negative for Few. Three of the cats had neurological disease and two of these had antibodies to BDV. Six sera with low, medium or high optical densities (ODS) by ELISA were analysed by Western blotting. only the sera with medium and high ODS reacted specifically with p40 at a dilution of 1 in 1000

Borna Disease Virus and Human Disease

The biology of Borna disease virus (BDV) strongly supports the likelihood of human infection with BDV or a variant of BDV. Thus far, the evidence supporting BDV infection in humans has initiated much controversy among basic and clinical scientists; only time and additional research will support or refute the hypothesis of human BDV infection. Until an assay of acceptable specificity and sensitivity has been developed, validated, and used to document human BDV infection, scientists cannot reasonably begin to associate BDV infection with specific disease syndromes. Clinical studies seeking causal associations between BDV infection and specific diseases must ensure the proper identification of the BDV infection status of patients and control subjects by using a validated, highly sensitive, and highly specific assay (or series of assays). For clinical studies, a highly sensitive “screening” test followed by a highly specific confirmatory test will be of significant benefit. Although it is possible to formulate hypotheses about the clinical outcomes of human BDV infection based on animal model work, to date no human disease has been causally linked to human BDV infection. Scientists all over the world are actively pursuing these issues, and with continuing advances in clinical and basic BDV research, the answers cannot be far away