Henipaviruses are emerging RNA viruses of fruit bat origin that can cause fatal encephalitis in man. Ghanaian fruit bats (megachiroptera) were tested for antibodies to henipaviruses. Using a Luminex multiplexed microsphere assay, antibodies were detected in sera of Eidolon helvum to both Nipah (39%, 95% confidence interval: 27-51%) and Hendra (22%, 95% CI: 11-33%) viruses. Virus neutralization ...

Emerging diseases pose a continuing threat to health security. In recent years, the Asia Pacific region has been an epicentre for many emerging diseases (including re-emerging and epidemic-prone diseases) resulting in substantial negative impacts on health, social and economic development. Some of these diseases are severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); avian influenza A(H5N1); dengue; Nipa...

9. Rogers RJ, Douglas IC, Baldock FC, Glanville RJ, Seppanen KT, Gleeson LJ, et al. Investigation of a second focus of equine morbillivirus infection in coastal Queensland. Aust Vet J 1996;74:2434. 10. Parashar UD, Lye MS, Ong F, Mounts AW, Arif MT, Ksiazek TG, et al. Case-control study of risk factors for human infection with a new zoonotic paramyxovirus, Nipah virus, during a 1998-1999 outbre...

Nipah virus is a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen that causes severe respiratory illness and encephalitis in humans. To identify novel small molecules that target Nipah virus replication as potential therapeutics, Southern Research Institute and Galveston National Laboratory jointly developed an automated high-throughput screening platform that is capable of testing 10,000 compounds per day w...

Human paramyxoviruses include global causes of lower respiratory disease like the parainfluenza viruses, as well as agents of lethal encephalitis like Nipah virus. Infection is initiated by viral glycoprotein-mediated fusion between viral and host cell membranes. Paramyxovirus viral fusion proteins (F) insert into the target cell membrane, and form a transient intermediate that pulls the viral ...

Henipavirus infection causes severe respiratory and neurological disease in humans that can be fatal. To characterize the pathogenic mechanisms of henipavirus infection in vivo, we performed experimental infections in ferrets followed by genome-wide gene expression analysis of lung and brain tissues. The Hendra, Nipah-Bangladesh, and Nipah-Malaysia strains caused severe respiratory and neurolog...

Hendra and Nipah viruses (family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus) are bat-borne viruses that cause fatal disease in humans and a range of other mammalian species. Gaining a deeper understanding of host pathways exploited by henipaviruses for infection may identify targets for new anti-viral therapies. Here we have performed genome-wide high-throughput agonist and antagonist screens at biosaf...

In late 1998, a novel paramyxovirus named Nipah virus, emerged in Malaysia, causing fatal disease in domestic pigs and humans with substantial economic loss to the local pig industry. Pteropid fruitbats have since been identified as a natural reservoir host. Over the last two decades, the forest habitat of these bats in Southeast Asia has been substantially reduced by deforestation for pulpwood...

Oligomerization of the phospho (P) proteins of paramyxoviruses plays important roles in the viral genome replication and transcription. The multimerization domain of the P proteins (PMD) was found to be responsible and sufficient for the oligomerization process. However, the oligomeric status of Nipah virus (NiV) P protein is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to produce the PM...

habitat overlaps with that of pteropid bats in southern Vietnam. Previous studies showed that IgG ELISA results for NiV-positive fl ying foxes correlated well with NT results (3,4). However, in our study, discrepancies existed between NT results and NiV-N-ELISA and WB results. A reason for these differences could be that Nipah-like viruses are circulating among bats in Vietnam, producing antibo...