TRIBUNNEWS.COM – Recently, researchers at Griffith University have discovered a new variant of the Hendra virus that can be transmitted to horses and humans.
This new variant of the Hendra virus was discovered in Australia.
In research published in Emerging Infectious Disease, a new variant of the Hendra virus was detected in the urine of black and gray-headed bats, which traverse a wide geographic distribution from the north-central coast of NSW to southeast Queensland.
According to Griffith Universitya new Hendra virus variant (HeV-g2) was recently discovered in samples of horses that died in 2015 from acute illness and had previously been detected in bat organs.
“The detection of the new Hendra variant in urine is important, as contact with infected flying fox urine is how horses become infected,” said lead researcher Dr Alison Peel, from the Center for Planetary Health and Food Safety.
Hendra virus is a naturally circulating pathogen in Australian flying fox bats.
In October 2021, a new HeV-g2 variant of the Hendra virus was discovered to have resulted in the death of a horse near Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Read also: Facts about the Hendra Virus, a Rare Virus that Transmits from Horses to Humans
Hendra Virus
Hendra virus is an RNA virus, single strain, and belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae, subfamily Paramyxovirinae.
Hendra virus is categorized in the genus Henipavirus, which is a member of the subfamily Paramyxovirinae (Respirovirus, Morbillovirus, Avulavirus, and Rubulavirus.
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