A novel cause of chronic viral meningoencephalitis: Cache Valley virus

Wilson, Michael R.; Suan, Dan; Duggins, Andrew; Schubert, Ryan D.; Khan, Lillian M.; Sample, Hannah A.; Zorn, Kelsey C.; Rodrigues Hoffman, Aline; Blick, Anna; Shingde, Meena; DeRisi, Joseph L.

Although viruses are typically associated with acute presentations of meningoencephalitis, some are known to cause chronic CNS infection. Immunocompetent patients have been known to suffer from chronic CNS infections caused by paramyxoviruses such as measles virus, Nipah virus, and herpes viruses such as varicella zoster virus, [24] [25] [26] whereas immunodeficient patients can suffer from chronic neurologic infections with human immunodeficiency virus type 1, Epstein-Barr virus, enteroviruses, polyomaviruses, astroviruses, coronavirus, and even mumps virus. 24, [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] In this report, we expand the spectrum of viral causes of chronic meningoencephalitis in the setting of immunodeficiency to include the orthobunyavirus CVV, a mosquito-borne orthobunyavirus first identified in Cache Valley, Utah in 1956. 4 Orthobunyaviruses are segmented negative-stranded RNA viruses whose genomes are composed of large, medium, and small segments. Other viruses in the orthobunyavirus family of public health importance include California encephalitis virus, Jamestown Canyon virus, and LaCrosse virus. 33,34 CVV