Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus: A Neglected Central Nervous System Pathogen

SIRI read with great interest the article by Marrie et al. regarding a questionably new encephalomyeloradiculopathy [1]. Although the authors state that they considered a variety of etiologic agents as the cause of illness in their patients and searched extensively for these agents, they did not consider a most probable pathogen, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). A wide range of neurological syndromes in patients with LCMV infection has been reported [2, 3]. In fact, Brouqui et al. [4] reported four cases of meningitis secondary to LCMV infection in the same issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. LCMV as an etiologic agent is most congruent with the epidemiological and clinical data presented by Marne et al. In temperate climates, human LCMV infection occurs most frequently during the cooler months when rodents seek food and shelter inside human habitats (in contrast to enteroviral infection, which occurs most frequently in summer and fall). Although