Henipavirus

About: Henipavirus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 333 publications have been published within this topic receiving 19757 citations.

Nipah Virus: A Recently Emergent Deadly Paramyxovirus

Abstract: A paramyxovirus virus termed Nipah virus has been identified as the etiologic agent of an outbreak of severe encephalitis in people with close contact exposure to pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. The outbreak was first noted in late September 1998 and by mid-June 1999, more than 265 encephalitis cases, including 105 deaths, had been reported in Malaysia, and 11 cases of encephalitis or respiratory illness with one death had been reported in Singapore. Electron microscopic, serologic, and genetic studies indicate that this virus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae and is most closely related to the recently discovered Hendra virus. We suggest that these two viruses are representative of a new genus within the family Paramyxoviridae. Like Hendra virus, Nipah virus is unusual among the paramyxoviruses in its ability to infect and cause potentially fatal disease in a number of host species, including humans.

Isolation of Hendra Virus From Pteropid Bats: A Natural Reservoir of Hendra Virus

Abstract: Since it was first described in Australia in 1994, Hendra virus (HeV) has caused two outbreaks of fatal disease in horses and humans, and an isolated fatal horse case. Our preliminary studies revealed a high prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to HeV in bats of the genus Pteropus, but it was unclear whether this was due to infection with HeV or a related virus. We developed the hypothesis that HeV excretion from bats might be related to the birthing process and we targeted the reproductive tract for virus isolation. Three virus isolates were obtained from the uterine fluid and a pool of foetal lung and liver from one grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), and from the foetal lung of one black flying-fox (P. alecto). Antigenically, these isolates appeared to be closely related to HeV, returning positive results on immunofluorescent antibody staining and constant-serum varying-virus neutralization tests. Using an HeV-specific oligonucleotide primer pair, genomic sequences of the isolates were amplified. Sequencing of 200 nucleotides in the matrix gene identified that these three isolates were identical to HeV. Isolations were confirmed after RNA extracted from original material was positive for HeV RNA when screened on an HeV Taqman assay. The isolation of HeV from pteropid bats corroborates our earlier serological and epidemiological evidence that they are a natural reservoir host of the virus.

Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses

Abstract: The large virus family Paramyxoviridae includes some of the most significant human and livestock viruses, such as measles-, distemper-, mumps-, parainfluenza-, Newcastle disease-, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumoviruses. Here we identify an estimated 66 new paramyxoviruses in a worldwide sample of 119 bat and rodent species (9,278 individuals). Major discoveries include evidence of an origin of Hendra- and Nipah virus in Africa, identification of a bat virus conspecific with the human mumps virus, detection of close relatives of respiratory syncytial virus, mouse pneumonia- and canine distemper virus in bats, as well as direct evidence of Sendai virus in rodents. Phylogenetic reconstruction of host associations suggests a predominance of host switches from bats to other mammals and birds. Hypothesis tests in a maximum likelihood framework permit the phylogenetic placement of bats as tentative hosts at ancestral nodes to both the major Paramyxoviridae subfamilies (Paramyxovirinae and Pneumovirinae). Future attempts to predict the emergence of novel paramyxoviruses in humans and livestock will have to rely fundamentally on these data.