Animal models of disease shed light on Nipah virus pathogenesis and transmission

• Published in: The Journal of pathology Vol. 235; no. 2; pp. 196 - 205
• Main Authors: de Wit, Emmie, Munster, Vincent J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.01.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: animal models; Animals; Biopsy; Chiroptera - virology; Disease Models, Animal; emerging virus infections; Fatalities; henipavirus; Henipavirus Infections - pathology; Henipavirus Infections - transmission; Henipavirus Infections - virology; Host-Pathogen Interactions; human-to-human transmission; Humans; Nipah virus; Nipah Virus - pathogenicity; Pathogenesis; pathology; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Pteropus; Virulence; Zoonoses; zoonotic transmission; emerging virus infections; henipavirus; pathogenesis; animal models; pathology; Nipah virus; human-to-human transmission; zoonotic transmission
• ISSN: 0022-3417; 1096-9896
• DOI: 10.1002/path.4444

Nipah virus is an emerging virus infection that causes yearly disease outbreaks with high case fatality rates in Bangladesh. Nipah virus causes encephalitis and systemic vasculitis, sometimes in combination with respiratory disease. Pteropus species fruit bats are the natural reservoir of Nipah virus and zoonotic transmission can occur directly or via an intermediate host; human‐to‐human transmission occurs regularly. In this review we discuss the current state of knowledge on the pathogenesis and transmission of Nipah virus, focusing on dissemination of the virus through its host, known determinants of pathogenicity and routes of zoonotic and human‐to‐human transmission. Since data from human cases are sparse, this knowledge is largely based on the results of studies performed in animal models that recapitulate Nipah virus disease in humans. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.