Abstract
Zoonoses as causes of human infections have been increasingly reported, and many of these are viruses that cause central nervous system infections. This paper focuses on the henipaviruses (family Paramyxoviridae, genus henipavirus) that have recently emerged to cause severe encephalitis and systemic infection in humans and animals in the Asia-Pacific region. The pathological features in the human infections comprise vasculopathy (vasculitis, endothelial multinucleated syncytia, thrombosis, etc.) and parenchymal cell infection in the central nervous system, lung, kidney, and other major organs. Most animals naturally or experimentally infected show more or less similar features confirming the dual pathogenetic mechanism of vasculopathy-associated microinfarction and direct extravascular parenchymal cell infection as causes of tissue injury. The most promising animal models include the hamster, ferret, squirrel monkey, and African green monkey. With increasing evidence of infection in the natural hosts, the pteropid bats and, hence, probable future outbreaks in many more countries, a greater awareness of henipavirus infection in both humans and animals is imperative.
Highlights
Zoonoses as causes of human infections have been increasingly reported, and many of these are viruses that cause central nervous system infections
This paper focuses on the henipaviruses that have recently emerged to cause severe encephalitis and systemic infection in humans and animals in the Asia-Pacific region
After the outbreak was controlled in Malaysia and Singapore in1999, at the beginning of 2001, several recurrent NiV outbreaks were reported from Bangladesh and the adjacent Bengal area of India [27, 28] that have involved more than 120 people far
Summary
Numerous emerging infections are zoonoses of known or newly discovered viruses that have jumped the species barrier to infect humans These include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), arboviruses, lyssavirus, henipaviruses, avian, and swine influenza viruses [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Many of these zoonotic viruses cause severe encephalitis associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Henipavirus genus, a recently established group of paramyxoviruses [11] comprising the Hendra virus (HEV) and Nipah virus (NIV), has emerged to cause severe encephalitis in humans and animals. After the outbreak was controlled in Malaysia and Singapore in1999, at the beginning of 2001, several recurrent NiV outbreaks were reported from Bangladesh and the adjacent Bengal area of India [27, 28] that have involved more than 120 people far
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