Human Bocavirus: Lessons Learned to Date

Schildgen, Oliver

Although it was discovered several years ago, there are still more questions than answers related to human bocavirus. Despite an increasing and overwhelming amount of evidence that the virus is in fact a pathogen, Koch's modified postulates have not yet been fulfilled for HBoV, primarily because a versatile cell culture system and an animal model are not available. Moreover, the virus is frequently detected as a co-pathogen, primarily because with the discovery of HBoV, a new era of clinical studies of respiratory infections has begun. In these studies, patients are screened for virtually all viruses known at the time the studies are performed. Currently, the primary challenge of the HBoV community is to develop a cell culture system or an animal model in which the virus can be propagated. The most recently published cell culture system using CuFi and NuLi cells could be such a model.