Update Diallo BB: Bornavirus not the cause of death after all -

Update Diallo BB: Bornavirus not the cause of death after all

Personalities 09.01.2026

from Dominique Wehrmann

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Diallo. photo: sportfotos-lafrentz.de

The news was a shock. On January 6, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl announced the death of her great young hope Diallo BB. The initial suspicion as to the cause of death has now not been confirmed.

As Jessica von Bredow-Werndl herself announced, bornavirus can be ruled out as the cause of death. The vets’ first assumption was that an infection with these viruses had claimed Diallo BB’s life. This had to be clarified because a bornavirus infection would have been notifiable.

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl writes in her statement:

“According to current knowledge, all regionally relevant viruses (including Bornavirus!) can now be excluded.

Once other differential diagnoses have been ruled out, an unforeseeable cause of the disease, such as a heart attack in the brain, is a possible cause.”

Huge loss

With Diallo BB, the four-time Olympic champion hoped to build on her success with Dalera BB. In fact, the likeable son of Dancier was highly successful in his very first show season with Jessica von Bredow-Werndl.

He was trained by Uta Gräf. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl then got him under the saddle around a year ago. They were a perfect match and were able to showcase themselves in Hagen and Munich, then competed at the German Championships in Balve and at the CHIO Aachen. Here you could still tell that they lacked routine together. But after a break from competition, they returned strongly, winning a national freestyle at Gut Ising and then securing their World Cup debut in Stuttgart. That was their last tournament together.

The death of this horse is a huge loss – not only because of his sporting success, but also for his rider on a personal level.