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Article: Henipavirus infection in fruit bats (Pteropus gigantous), India.(DISPATCHES)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- August 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We tested 41 bats for antibodies against Nipah and Hendra viruses to determine whether henipaviruses circulate in pteropid fruit bats (Pteropus giganteus) in northern India. Twenty bats were seropositive for Nipah virus, which suggests circulation in this species, thereby extending the known distribution of henipaviruses in Asia westward by >1,000 km.
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Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are zoonotic paramyxoviruses (genus Henipavirus) that have caused human deaths in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Bangladesh (1-4). Known reservoirs for henipaviruses are Pteropus spp. fruit bats, which are distributed across the Indo-Pacific ...