| antibodies to henipavirus or henipa-like viruses in domestic pigs in ghana, west africa. | henipaviruses, hendra virus (hev) and nipah virus (niv), have pteropid bats as their known natural reservoirs. antibodies against henipaviruses have been found in eidolon helvum, an old world fruit bat species, and henipavirus-like nucleic acid has been detected in faecal samples from e. helvum in ghana. the initial outbreak of niv in malaysia led to over 265 human encephalitis cases, including 105 deaths, with infected pigs acting as amplifier hosts for niv during the outbreak. we detected non- ... | 2011 | 21966471 |
| host and viral traits predict zoonotic spillover from mammals. | the majority of human emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, with viruses that originate in wild mammals of particular concern (for example, hiv, ebola and sars). understanding patterns of viral diversity in wildlife and determinants of successful cross-species transmission, or spillover, are therefore key goals for pandemic surveillance programs. however, few analytical tools exist to identify which host species are likely to harbour the next human virus, or which viruses can cross species ... | 2017 | 28636590 |
| henipaviruses at the interface between bats, livestock and human population in africa. | nipah virus (niv) and hendra virus (hev) are closely related members within the genus henipavirus, family paramyxoviridae, for which fruit bats serve as the reservoir. the initial emergence of niv infections in pigs and humans in malaysia, and hev infections in horses and humans in australia, posed severe impacts on human and animal health, and continues threatening lives of humans and livestock within southeast asia and australia. recently, henipavirus-specific antibodies have also been detecte ... | 2019 | 30985268 |
| attachment protein g of an african bat henipavirus is differentially restricted in chiropteran and nonchiropteran cells. | henipaviruses are associated with pteropodid reservoir hosts. the glycoproteins g and f of an african henipavirus (strain m74) have been reported to induce syncytium formation in kidney cells derived from a hypsignathus monstrosus bat (hypni/1.1) but not in nonchiropteran bhk-21 and vero76 cells. here, we show that syncytia are also induced in two other pteropodid cell lines from hypsignathus monstrosus and eidolon helvum bats upon coexpression of the m74 glycoproteins. the g protein was transpo ... | 2014 | 25100832 |
| use of cross-reactive serological assays for detecting novel pathogens in wildlife: assessing an appropriate cutoff for henipavirus assays in african bats. | reservoir hosts of novel pathogens are often identified or suspected as such on the basis of serological assay results, prior to the isolation of the pathogen itself. serological assays might therefore be used outside of their original, validated scope in order to infer seroprevalences in reservoir host populations, until such time that specific diagnostic assays can be developed. this is particularly the case in wildlife disease research. the absence of positive and negative control samples and ... | 2013 | 23835034 |
| evidence for henipavirus spillover into human populations in africa. | zoonotic transmission of lethal henipaviruses (hnvs) from their natural fruit bat reservoirs to humans has only been reported in australia and south/southeast asia. however, a recent study discovered numerous hnv clades in african bat samples. to determine the potential for hnv spillover events among humans in africa, here we examine well-curated sets of bat (eidolon helvum, n = 44) and human (n = 497) serum samples from cameroon for nipah virus (niv) cross-neutralizing antibodies (niv-x-nabs). ... | 2014 | 25405640 |
| henipavirus rna in african bats. | henipaviruses (hendra and nipah virus) are highly pathogenic members of the family paramyxoviridae. fruit-eating bats of the pteropus genus have been suggested as their natural reservoir. human henipavirus infections have been reported in a region extending from australia via malaysia into bangladesh, compatible with the geographic range of pteropus. these bats do not occur in continental africa, but a whole range of other fruit bats is encountered. one of the most abundant is eidolon helvum, th ... | 2009 | 19636378 |
| evidence of henipavirus infection in west african fruit bats. | 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 tests further confirmed seropositivity for 30% (7/23) of luminex positive serum samples. our results in ... | 2008 | 18648649 |