Evengård, B, Lipkin, W I · Lakartidningen · 1997
This review examines Borna disease virus (BDV), a virus found in animals worldwide that can affect the nervous system. Researchers have wondered whether BDV might also infect humans and contribute to conditions like ME/CFS, depression, and schizophrenia. This article summarizes what scientists know about BDV and discusses how it might cause illness in people.
This study is significant because it brings attention to a potential infectious agent that some researchers suspected might contribute to ME/CFS pathogenesis. Understanding novel viral candidates and their mechanisms could help explain the neurological and immunological aspects of ME/CFS and potentially inform treatment approaches.
This review does not establish that BDV causes ME/CFS or prove direct causation in humans; it only notes suggested relationships from preliminary reports. The study does not present new diagnostic data, prevalence rates in ME/CFS populations, or definitive evidence that BDV infection leads to human disease. Temporal association or detection alone does not confirm causation.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Evengård, B & Lipkin, W I (1997). [A known virus in animals is suspected in humans. Borna disease virus has been detected in human neuropathy].. Lakartidningen. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9445954/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-evengrd-1997-known-virus,
author = {Evengård, B and Lipkin, W I},
title = {[A known virus in animals is suspected in humans. Borna disease virus has been detected in human neuropathy].},
journal = {Lakartidningen},
year = {1997},
note = {PubMed: 9445954},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/evengrd-1997-known-virus},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/evengrd-1997-known-virus
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