Human encephalitis caused by pseudorabies virus infection: a case report

• Published in: Journal of neurovirology Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 442 - 448
• Main Authors: Wang, Di, Tao, Xiaogen, Fei, Mingming, Chen, Jian, Guo, Wei, Li, Ping, Wang, Jinquan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.06.2020
• Subjects: Adrenal Cortex Hormones - therapeutic use; Adult; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use; Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Case Report; DNA, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; DNA, Viral - genetics; Electroencephalography; Encephalitis, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; Encephalitis, Viral - diagnosis; Encephalitis, Viral - drug therapy; Encephalitis, Viral - virology; Ganciclovir - therapeutic use; Herpesvirus 1, Suid - genetics; Herpesvirus 1, Suid - pathogenicity; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; Immunology; Infectious Diseases; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Meat - virology; Neurology; Neurosciences; Pseudorabies - cerebrospinal fluid; Pseudorabies - diagnosis; Pseudorabies - drug therapy; Pseudorabies - virology; Swine; Virology; Pseudorabies virus; Next-generation sequencing; Human encephalitis
• ISSN: 1355-0284; 1538-2443
• DOI: 10.1007/s13365-019-00822-2

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) primarily infects swine but can infect cattle, dogs, and cats. Several studies have reported that PRV can cross the specie barrier and induce human encephalitis, but a definitive diagnosis of human PRV encephalitis is debatable due to the lack of PRV DNA detection. Here, we report a case of human PRV encephalitis diagnosed by the next-generation sequencing (NGS) of PRV sequences in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient. A male pork vendor developed fever and seizures for 6 days. NGS results showed PRV sequences in his CSF and blood. Sanger sequencing showed that PRV DNA in the CSF and PRV antibodies in both the CSF and blood were positive. MRI results revealed multiple inflammatory lesions in the bilateral hemisphere. Based on the clinical and laboratory data, we diagnosed the patient with PRV encephalitis. This case suggests that PRV can infect humans, causing severe viral encephalitis. People at risk of PRV infection should improve their self-protection awareness.