Pathogenesis of Hendra and Nipah virus infection in humans

Olivier Escaffre, Viktoriya Borisevich, Barry Rockx

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

66 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are emerging zoonotic viruses that cause severe and often lethal respiratory illness and encephalitis in humans. Henipaviruses can infect a wide range of species and human-to-human transmission has been observed for NiV. While the exact route of transmission in humans is not known, experimental infection in different animal species suggests that infection can be efficiently initiated after respiratory challenge. The limited data on histopathological changes in fatal human cases of HeV and NiV suggest that endothelial cells are an important target during the terminal stage of infection; however, it is unknown where these viruses initially establish infection and how the virus disseminates from the respiratory tract to the central nervous system and other organs. Here we review the current concepts in henipavirus pathogenesis in humans.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)308-311
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Infection in Developing Countries
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Central nervous system
  • Hendra
  • Nipah
  • Pathogenesis
  • Respiratory tract
  • Zoonotic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Parasitology
  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Virology

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