Nonsuppurative (Aseptic) meningoencephalomyelitis associated with neurovirulent astrovirus infections in humans and animals

Abstract

Astroviruses are thought to be enteric pathogens. Since 2010, a cer-tain group of astroviruses has increasingly been recognized, using up-to-date random amplification and high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods, as potential neurovirulent (Ni) pathogens of severe central nervous system (CNS) infections, causing encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, and meningoen-cephalomyelitis. To date, neurovirulent astrovirus cases or epidemics have been reported for humans and domesticated mammals, including mink, bovines, ovines, and swine. This comprehensive review summarizes the virology, epidemi-ology, pathology, diagnosis, therapy, and future perspective related to neuroviru-lent astroviruses in humans and mammals, based on a total of 30 relevant arti-cles available in PubMed (searched by use of the terms “astrovirus/encephalitis” and “astrovirus/meningitis” on 2 March 2018). A paradigm shift should be considered based on the increasing knowledge of the causality-effect association between neurotropic as-troviruses and CNS infection, and attention should be drawn to the role of astroviruses in unknown CNS diseases.