Hendra Virus. The first Hendra virus outbreak occurred in a racing horse stable in 1994, where two people who worked at the stable were infected, along with 21 ...MicrobesHomeEditorialBoardReviewsContactUsSearchHendravirusAuthors:Mohamad Aljofan,Ph.D.Previousauthor: JoeMcCormack,M.D.MonographTablesWhat'sNewReviewsHistoryVirologyThe Henipavirus genusrepresentsagroupofparamyxovirusesthataresomeofthedeadliestofknownhumanandanimalpathogens.TherearetwoknownviruseswithintheHenipavirusgenus,Hendravirus(HeV)andNipahvirus(NiV).However,anovelvirus,cedarvirus(CedPV),wasisolatedfromAustralianfruitbatsduringHeVsurveillanceactivitiesandthatgenomecharacterizationofcedarvirus,identifiedacloseliketoHendravirusandNipahsuggestingtheirinclusionasathirdmemberofthegenusHenipaviruses (8, 19). Henipaviruses areresponsibleforseverediseaseoutbreaksinhumans,pigsandhorses,withanestimatedhumanmortalityratebetween50and100%makingthemoneofthemostdeadlyvirusesknowntoinfecthumans(18).HendraVirus(HeV)Hendravirus,previouslyreferredtoasequinemorbillivirus,wasfirstidentifiedinanoutbreakinSeptember1994inHendra,asuburbofQueensland,Australia,whichresultedinthedeathsof14horsesand2humanswhohadclosecontactwiththeinfectedhorses(22). Thenaturallyacquiredsymptomaticinfection,characterizedbyarapidlyprogressiveillnessinvolvingtherespiratorysystemand/orthecentralnervoussystem(CNS),hassofarbeenrecognizedinhorses,humansaswellasdomesticanimals(40).However,thereispotentialforotherspeciestobeinfected,withsignificantconsequencesforanimalandhumanhealth.AfteritsfirstemergenceinQueensland,hendraviruscontinuedtoreemergeandspreadtootherareasinQueenslandand neighboringstateof NewSouthWales(1, 18).NipahVirus(NiV)Nipahviruswasfirstisolatedin1999fromcerebrospinalfluid(CSF)ofanencephaliticpatientfromSungaiNipahvillage(6).Molecularanalysesindicatedthattheisolatedviruswasaparamyxoviruscloselyrelated,butnotidentical,toHendravirus(29).ThenewlyemergedviruswasnamedNipahvirusafterthevillageoftheindexcase(7,36).Initially,theviruscausedmil