No borna disease virus-specific RNA detected in blood of race horses and jockeys.

BACKGROUND: Borna disease virus (BDV) predominantly infects horses and sheep, causing a broad range of behavioural disorders. It is controversial whether BDV infects humans and causes psychiatric disorders. OBJECTIVES: We searched for BDV-derived nucleic acids in blood of race horses and jockeys riding the horses. METHODS: We assayed for the BDV genome in RNA extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 39 race horses and 48 jockeys. Two polymerase chain reaction protocols [one-tube reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and two-step RT-PCR] were used to assay BDV p24 and p40 transcripts. RESULTS: The p24 and p40 viral nucleic acid sequences were not detected in the PBMC RNAs from any of the race horses or jockeys. CONCLUSIONS: These data do not support an epidemiological association between BDV infection, race horses and humans.