Rustrela virus Rustrela virus, scientific name Rubivirus strelense, is a species of virus in the genus Rubivirus.

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.

[2] The virus can jump between species and interestingly infects both placental and marsupial animals.

Rustrela has a few amino acid differences in the protein which binds to host cells.

[3] There are four putative B cell epitopes in the fusion (E1) protein of rustrela that are highly conserved with Rubella virus and Ruhugu virus.