As per a new report in the case in which three squirrel breeders in Germany have died has unveiled that the three men in their 60s and 70s might have contracted a new strain of virus from squirrels. All the three of them have died from brain inflammation.

As per the researchers, the new virus strain belongs to group of viruses known as bornaviruses. It generally infects horses, sheep and birds and now, the researchers have stated that it can infect humans as well.

The researchers stated that the new viruses can cause disease. Now, an important question is whether the virus will cause a problem to people in the area.

The three squirrel breeders were friends and used to meet on regular basis. All the three of them have bred variegated squirrels. As per the report, two of them have suffered scratches and bites from their squirrels.

All the three men were diagnosed with encephalitis, an inflammation in the brain, between 2011 and 2013. The researchers said that it is generally caused by a virus. They witnessed symptoms like fever, chills and weakness and later, their condition became severe and they started facing difficulty walking.

All of them were hospitalized and treated in intensive care units and eventually all went into coma and died within two to four months of their first symptoms. When a detailed genetic test was done then one of the squirrels owned by the breeders was found to be having a new type of bornavirus, which the researchers have named VSBV – 1.

Further assessment has found the virus in the brain tissue of all the three patients. “VSBV-1 is likely to be a previously unknown zoonotic pathogen transmitted by the variegated squirrel”, said the researchers, from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Germany. But for now, it has not been completely proved that virus caused the encephalitis.