Henipavirus Infection: Natural History and the Virus-Host Interplay

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe review summarizes the history of the emergence of the Henipviruses, provides a general introduction of their molecular biology and the efforts to develop antiviral treatment strategies, including the successful development of a veterinary vaccine.Recent FindingsParamyxoviridae, genusHenipavirus comprises emerging pathogens detected in Southeast Asia, Australia and Africa. Henipaviruses are enveloped with non-segmented, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA molecules and are distinguished from other Paramyxoviruses by a substantially larger RNA genome. Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are the causative agents of zoonotic disease outbreaks in Australia and Asia, respectively, and are indigenous to fruit bats. HeV and NiV can cause severe diseases with neurological and respiratory manifestations in humans and intermediate hosts but do not cause a disease in the natural bat host. The primary spill-over reservoir for humans to come into contact with HeV in Australia and NiV in Malaysia are horses and pigs, respectively. Direct bat-to-human transmissions are reported from NiV infections in Bangladesh. The life cycle of the Henipaviruses includes replication of the RNA genome in the cytoplasm, a nuclear phase of the viral matrix protein, and assembly and budding of infectious virions at the cell membrane. To prevent the establishment of an antiviral cellular state, Henipaviruses encode structural and non-structural viral proteins able to antagonize...
Source: Current Treatment Options in Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research