A virus discovers in Salzburg influences Chamois and activates serious brain inflammation. It is unclear whether this can also be dangerous for people. What is known so far about the “Alpine Chamet Encephalitis virus” and how great the danger is real.
In 2017, a hunter shot a Gamsbock in a sidelines of the Salzach (Salzburg) that faltered and kept his head unnatural. The animal had a brain inflammation, reports the Virologist Norbert Nowotny in the “Virus” journal. In the brain of the animal he identified the genetic makeup of a previously unknown drawing virus with colleagues. It is unclear whether this “alpine chamois encephalitis virus” is also dangerous for people, he told the APA.
After the animal was shot in Salzburg, such pathogens were also found in the brain in the Italian Alps in the Italian Alps. One of them was found dead in Piedmont in 2023, the other died in Lombardy with movement disorders and muscle twitches. Both were still liable on both signs in which the previously unknown virus was detectable. It is clearly widespread in the Alps, because the locations in Italy and Austria are a maximum of 390 kilometers while the crow is flying away according to the researchers.
“Alpine Chamois Encephalitis Virus – Acev”
The team led by Nowotny from the Center for Pathobiology at Veterinary University of Vienna, discovered that the virus is one of the so -driven flaviviruses. The researchers baptized the “Alpine Chamois encephalitis virus – Acev”. “Until now, only one flavivirus transferred by sign in Central Europe, which can lead to neurological symptoms in people and animals,” said Nowotny: “Namely the European subtype of the TBE (early Summer meningoencephalitis, note).” This is notorious to cause brain inflammation in people, which protects a vaccination against.
“The virus-positive sign on the Chamois were ‘Ixodes Ricinus’ sign, also known as ‘normal wooden goat’, are the most important carriers of the TBE virus,” he said. This often occurring sign may also be transferred to people if they are stabbed by an infected tick. “Because Chamois is close to goats, and a little further with sheep, the possibility of contamination through raw milk products from these animal species is probably higher,” said Nowotny. The TSME virus knew that there are many viruses in the raw milk. However, they are completely killed with pasteurization.
Transferability to people doubtful
“We don’t know yet whether people are receptive to this viral infection and shows clinical symptoms,” said Nowotny. The “host spectrum” and “zoosotic potential”, to what extent the animal disease can be transferred to people, must therefore be “further investigated,” he says.
“Because with human cases there is almost never a virus -resistant with the help of PCR and the subsequent sequencing, we also do not know whether there have already been human infections with this new virus that we have discovered,” said Nowotny: “But I can calm down: “It is closer to the Louping Ill -Virus, which is especially common on the British Isles, than the European subtype of the virus, and the Loeping Ill -Virus rarely leads to disease in people.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
