Novel Hendra Virus Variant Circulating in Black Flying Foxes and Grey-Headed Flying Foxes, Australia
Alison J. Peel, Claude Kwe Yinda, Edward J. Annand, Adrienne S. Dale, Peggy Eby, John‐Sebastian Eden, Devin N. Jones, Maureen K. Kessler, Tamika J. Lunn, T. J. Pearson, Jonathan E. Schulz, Ina Smith, Vincent J. Munster, Raina K. Plowright, Bat One Health Group3
Abstract
endra virus (HeV; genus Henipavirus, family Paramyxoviridae) is a well-characterised zoonotic pathogen endemic to Pteropus spp. bats (flying foxes) in Australia. Spillover from bats to horses has been detected 65 times; 4 of 7 persons infected from horses have died (1). Quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) (2) is a tool used for surveillance and priority disease investigation in bats and horses The high specificity of assays limits detection to a narrow range of genotypic diversity, meaning that divergent variants might remain undetected (3).