Rustrela virus as putative cause of nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis in lions

de le Roi, Madeleine; Puff, Christina; Wohlsein, Peter; Pfaff, Florian; Beer, Martin; Baumgärtner, Wolfgang; Rubbenstroth, Dennis

doi:10.3201/eid2905.230172

Article / Chapter 2023 CC BY 4.0

Published

Rustrela virus as putative cause of nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis in lions

de le Roi, Madeleine ; Puff, Christina ; Wohlsein, Peter ; Pfaff, Florian ; Beer, Martin; Baumgärtner, Wolfgang ; Rubbenstroth, Dennis

Retrospective investigation of archived tissue samples from 3 lions displaying nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis and vasculitis led to the detection of rustrela virus (RusV). We confirmed RusV antigen and RNA in cortical neurons, axons, astrocytes and Purkinje cells by reverse transcription quantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization.