Nipah and Hendra Viruses: Deadly Zoonotic Paramyxoviruses with the Potential to Cause the Next Pandemic.

Nipah and Hendra viruses are deadly zoonotic paramyxoviruses with a case fatality rate of upto 75%. The viruses belong to the genus henipavirus in the family , a family of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. The natural reservoirs of NiV and HeV are bats (flying foxes) in which the virus infection is asymptomatic.