Henipaviruses at the Interface Between Bats, Livestock and Human Population in Africa.

Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are closely related members within the genus , family , for which fruit bats serve as the reservoir. The initial emergence of NiV infections in pigs and humans in Malaysia, and HeV infections in horses and humans in Australia, posed severe impacts on human and animal health, and continues threatening lives of humans and livestock within Southeast Asia and Australia. Recently, henipavirus-specific antibodies have also been detected in fruit bats in a number of sub-Saharan African countries and in Brazil, thereby considerably increasing the known geographic distribution of henipaviruses.