Re: Is Encephalitis a virus all on it's own?

According to PubMed:

"Encephalitis may occur as primary or secondary manifestation of TOGAVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [as you've found]; HERPESVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [specifically HSV-1/2 (Herpes Simplex) and VZV (chickenpox/shingles)]; ADENOVIRIDAE INFECTIONS ["common colds"]; FLAVIVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [includes Dengue fever, Yellow fever, tick-bourne encephalitis, and many others]; BUNYAVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [including an exhaustive list of tropical brain fevers]; PICORNAVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [specifically the Polio virus]; PARAMYXOVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [specifically the Measles and Mumps viruses]; ORTHOMYXOVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [influenza]; RETROVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [associated with HIV-1 (the AIDS virus)]; and ARENAVIRIDAE INFECTIONS [Hemorrhagic fever viruses]."

As you had originally guessed, encephalitis is a symptom of many different viral diseases, rather than being a disease unto itself. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the actual tissues of the brain, and is much less common than Meningitis, which is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain. Some forms of meningitis, especially bacterial and fungal meningeal infections can develop into encephalitis; however, meningitis is sufficiently deadly to make fungal and bacterial encephalitises very rare. On the other hand, there are many "brain fevers" associated with tropical viruses, like the Arenaviruses, Bunyaviruses, and Flaviviruses. Some of the other viral encphalitises listed above are secondary infections that occur in only a portion of those people infected: at one extreme, many people who get Polio (initially a stomach sickness) develop nervous diseases; at the other, few sufferers of colds and flu's develop encephalitis. Whatever the cause, encephalitis can be a debilitating or deadly problem, such that almost all childhood immunizations target diseases that can lead to encephalitis, including Measles, Mumps, Polio, Influenza, and now Chickenpox.