Prevalence of Borna disease virus RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from blood donors.

The presence of Borna disease virus (BDV) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 100 blood donors from Sapporo and 72 blood donors from Tokyo was examined using nested reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction amplification with specific-primers for BDV p24. Anti-BDV p24 antibodies in the plasma of the 100 blood donors from Sapporo also were studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by Western blot. BDV RNA was detected in 3 (4.2%) of the 72 PBMC samples from Tokyo, and in 5 (5%) of the 100 PBMC samples from Sapporo. In contrast, anti-p24 antibodies were found in only 1 (1%) of the donors from Sapporo. These results suggest that BDV infection in humans may be more widespread than previously thought.