Nipah and Hendra Viruses

Abstract

Nipah and Hendra viruses are two zoonotic paramyxoviruses with an ability to cause fatal encephalitic and respiratory diseases in humans. Nipah and Hendra viruses are negative sense, single-stranded RNA viruses in the Paramyxoviridae family, subfamily Paramyxovirinae. They are categorized in the recently named genus Henipavirus , one of five genera in the subfamily (the others are Respirovirus, Morbillovirus, Avulavirus, and Rubulavirus). Other human pathogenic viruses exist in these other genera, such as measles, mumps, and parainfluenza viruses; Nipah and Hendra viruses, in the genus Henipavirus , and Menangle virus, in the genus Rubalavirus , are unique in that they are zoonotic and are viruses that have recently emerged in humans. A similarity exists between the epidemiology of each of these two viruses, such as the Pteropus fruit bat as the natural host for both viruses. For both Hendra and Nipah viruses, it is presumed that horses and pigs that have acted as an intermediary host to humans had been infected by indirect contact with pteropid bats endemic in these regions, although this has not been experimentally proven.