Rustrela virus, scientific name Rubivirus strelense, is a species of virus in the genus Rubivirus.
History Scientists discovered Rustrela in acutely encephalitic placental and marsupial mammals – a donkey, a capybara, and a wallaby – in a zoo in Germany, and in wild yellow-necked field mice (Apodemus flavicollis) in and around the zoo. – See also article correction: The virus can jump between species and interestingly infects both placental and marsupial animals.
Structure The Rustrela virus has the same genomic structure as the Rubella virus. Rustrela has a few amino acid differences in the protein which binds to host cells. There are four putative B cell epitopes in the fusion (E1) protein of rustrela that are highly conserved with Rubella virus and Ruhugu virus.
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