Is HHV-6 a Hemorrhagic Virus that Behaves like African Swine Fever Virus in some Patients?
Human herpesvirus-6 as a possible cause of encephalitis and hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Y-J Kim, D-W Kim, D-G Lee, S-T Park, Y-H Park, C-K Min, S Lee, J-H Choi, J-W Lee, W-S Min, W-S Shin and C-C Kim
Leukemia, May 2002, Volume 16, Number 5, Pages 958-959
"HHV-6 can infect and replicate in neuroglial cells, both in vitro as well as in vivo. The CNS is thought by some investigators to be one site of viral persistence. Both primary infections and non-primary infec- tions (reactivation) by HHV-6 can cause serious CNS disease, preferentially by HHV-6A. Such diseases include meningitis and encephalitis in children with febrile seizures, acute necrotizing and hemorrhagic encephalitis, demyelinating disease in immune deficient patients. There is also increasing evidence of a certain pathogenetic role of HHV-6 in multiple sclerosis. Finally, HHV-6 neurotropism may as well play a significant role in the development of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS, CFIDS0."
Is this another clue that HHV-6 is a form of African Swine Fever Virus? Here's evidence that the virus can infect humans:
Detection of Novel Sequences Related to African Swine Fever Virus in Human Serum and Sewage.
Loh J, Zhao G, Presti RM, Holtz LR, Finkbeiner SR, Droit L, Villasana Z, Todd C, Pipas JM, Calgua B, Girones R, Wang D, Virgin HW.
Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
"The family Asfarviridae contains only a single virus species, African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASFV is a viral agent with significant economic impact due to its devastating effects on populations of domesticated pigs during outbreaks, but has not been reported to infect humans. We report here the discovery of novel viral sequences in human serum and sewage which are clearly related to the Asfarvirus family, but highly divergent from ASFV. Detection of these sequences suggests that greater genetic diversity may exist among Asfarviruses than previously thought, and raises the possibility that human infection by Asfarviruses may occur."