Background and objectives: Borna disease virus (BDV) can infect a wide range of vertebrate species causing neurological disease. In order to ensure the safety of blood supplies, it is essential to monitor blood for emerging pathogens.
Materials and methods: One-hundred individual white cell pellets and pools representing 25 000 plasma donations from human blood were screened for BDV by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: BDV RNA was not detected in any of the samples.
Conclusions: The results indicate that BDV is not widely spread in the UK human population and does not represent a risk as a transfusion-transmitted agent.