Infectome analysis of #bat #kidneys from #Yunnan province, #China, reveals novel #henipaviruses related to #Hendra and #Nipah viruses and prevalent bacterial and eukaryotic microbes, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/06/infectome-analysis-of-bat-kidneys-from.html
#Hendra
@kimlockhartga Yikes!
"#Henipaviruses belong to the family of paramyxoviruses. Two species have been identified to be zoonotic, causing disease in animals. These are the #Hendra virus (HeV) and the #Nipah virus (#NiV). They produce severe and often fatal illness in #humans and #horses.
"HeV infection in horses, and then in humans, was first reported in 1994 in Australia. In contrast, NiV infection was first observed in pigs and subsequently in humans in 1998, in Malaysia. In Bangladesh, henipavirus infection was traced independently of contact with infected animals.
"Fruit bats (Pteropus species, also called ‘flying foxes’) are the natural hosts of henipaviruses. The Hendra virus is probably transmitted to horses, which are the main intermediate hosts, through the ingestion of food contaminated with the droppings, urine or other excretions of infected fruit bats. The bats themselves do not show any clinical signs of illness. Transmission of HeV to man occurs through close contact with infected horses, probably through their respiratory secretions and urine.
"NiV is carried from pigs, which are the main intermediate hosts, to humans, via aerosols, or direct contact with infected respiratory secretions, saliva or urine, or surfaces contaminated by these secretions. Pigs may have acquired the infection via fruits half-eaten by bats, and contaminated by the virus. Other possible intermediate hosts are dogs, cats, horses and goats.
"In some cases NiV transmission has been independent of direct contact with livestock, through the ingestion of sap from the date palm, which was contaminated by bat excretions. In other cases the NiV infection was transmitted from the infected excretions of pigs to abattoir and farm workers in contact with the animals. A high rate of human to human spread by NiV was seen in an outbreak in Bangladesh, unlike earlier outbreaks in Malaysia.
"The disease manifests in 4-20 days or 5-12 days, for HeV and NiV infection respectively. It presents as fever with acute encephalitis, or as an acute influenza-like illness leading to severe respiratory illness, or as meningitis. The mortality ranges from 40-70% for NiV infection, and 50% with HeV. It is highest among those with acute encephalitis. Survivors have severe residual disabilities, such as incoordination, muscular weakness and difficulty with thought processing and mental functions. Others show paralysis of the eye muscles, with resultant visual problems.
"Encephalitis in HeV infection presents as motor weakness, confusion and disorientation, or seizures. In NiV infection, there may be fever, vomiting, headache, dizziness and loss of consciousness. Rising heart rates or blood pressure, kidney impairment, bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, septicemia, and convulsions, are also seen.
"Why are henipaviruses so deadly? The answer lies in their ability to encode several proteins which block the innate immune response in infected animals and humans. These inhibit the cell’s response to viral infection, and allow viral replication. These thus act as virulence factors, blocking the interferon-stimulated antiviral defense mechanisms from kicking in inside the infected cells. The virus causes destruction of small blood vessels in many major organs, such as the brain, liver and kidney, causing organ failure. This is associated with microinfarction, infection, and organ failure.
[...]
"Treatment is symptomatic, and no vaccine or antiviral drug has been developed so far to treat the disease. Prevention is by ensuring #HeV vaccination of all horses in risk situations, as well as minimal human contact with fruit bats, isolation of sick animals, precautions against direct contact with infected secretions and excretions and extensive culling of animals confirmed to have the infection."
https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Henipavirus.aspx
SciTech Chronicles. . . . . . . . .Feb 7th, 2025
#Mosa #fat #plant-based #cultivated #Alabama #shrews #Nipah #Hendra #Vortex #deformed #core #elongated #ECM #acellular #nanocomposite #alginate #agroforestry #farming #trees #shrubs
Live #virus samples lost in major #Queensland lab breach
Nearly 100 live samples of the deadly #Hendra virus have been lost in a #biosecurity bungle at a state-run Queensland lab. It was revealed 323 virus samples went missing from #VirologyLaboratory in 2021 in a "major breach" of biosecurity protocol.
The material, which included samples of Hendra virus, #lyssavirus and #hantavirus, appears to have gone missing after a freezer storing the samples broke down.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-09/queensland-lab-breach-missing-vials-virus-health/104701198
Protect where bats forage
Protect where bats roost
Include primary pandemic prevention alongside preparedness and response.
"While biomedical approaches are an essential part of the pandemic response toolbox, the genesis of a pandemic is rooted in ecological systems, necessitating ecological approaches for prevention."
"To reduce the likelihood of pandemics, we must protect where animals forage and rest so that we can keep wildlife healthy, minimize allostatic load, reduce the need for animals to alter their spatial behavior, and minimize risky human-wildlife encounters."
>>
Plowright, R.K., Ahmed, A.N., Coulson, T. et al. Ecological countermeasures to prevent pathogen spillover and subsequent pandemics. Nat Commun 15, 2577 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46151-9
#Wildlife #habitat #destruction #degradation #fragmentation ##bats pandemics #HWI #biodiversity #conservation #deforestation #livestock #ungulates #grazing #horses #hendra #pathogens #spillover #ZoonoticRisk #roads #extractivism #sprawl #OneHealth #EcologicalCountermeasures
#Pandemics begin when disease-harboring #animals, such as #bats, come in close proximity with people, livestock or other animals and pass on new #pathogens. #Viruses such as #SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, #Nipah, #Hendra and possibly #Ebola have all fatally spilled over from bats to humans, sometimes through an intermediate host.
#Ecology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2024/03/eco03262401.html
The Viral Threat Almost No One Is Thinking About
Flu viruses and coronavirus started the last few pandemics. Could the next one be a paramyxovirus?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/10/paramyxovirus-next-pandemic-flu-covid/675785/
#pandemic #virus #flu #SARS #MERS #coronavirus #measles #Hendra #nipah #CanineDistemper #paramyxovirus
Andy Hoegh told us about his work using particle #MCMC to fit agent-based movement models to data. He has worked on Grizzly bear movement and #hendra virus in bats. The slides are also on GitHub https://andyhoegh.github.io/SMCDU/#/
A great article spreading information about how scientists (Peggy Eby and Ali Peel) are working to explain why horses get hendra and how we can prevent it (make sure there is enough food for bats and vaccines for horses)
Also those bloody drop bears get a mention but they are everywhere and they do bring in money with their fluffy bums. More on landline on Sunday.
#bats #hendra #koala #science #Yeah!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-25/hendra-virus-bat-habitat-flying-fox-research-horses/102011352
Loved learning more about this incredibly detailed research: Scientists studying found flying foxes found that they shed much more #Hendra virus when they were starving – their search for food pushed them closer to humans and livestock
This combination set the stage for a surge in spillover events, where pathogens jump to other animals or humans. And it allows experts to predict when #spillovers will happen: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/why-hungry-bats-could-start-next-pandemic/ #onehealth #bats #australia
¿Se podrían prevenir los #spillover plantando árboles?
Este estudio encuentra que la escasez de alimentos en la población de murciélagos impulsada por el clima precedió a los brotes del virus #Hendra.
Este estudio sugiere que una forma efectiva de prevenir la próxima pandemia es proteger y restaurar los hábitats de la vida silvestre.
Zoonosen und #Klimawandel:
Frucht-Fledermäuse in Australien verlieren wegen des Raubbaus des Menschen ihre abgelegenen Lebensräume in Wäldern. Daher wandern sie in menschliche Zivilisationsräume ein.
Sie bevorzugen dabei u.a. wegen der Nist- und Ernährungsvielfalt Pferdeställe. Die Fledermäuse tragen aber seit jeher den für Menschen tödlichen #Hendra-Virus in sich. Dieser benötigt Pferde als Zwischenwirte, um den Menschen zu infizieren
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"Specifically, the researchers found that clusters of #Hendra virus spillovers occur following years in which the bats experience food stress. And these food shortages typically follow years with a strong El Niño, a climatic phenomenon in the tropical Pacific Ocean that is often associated with drought along eastern Australia. But if the trees the bats rely on for food during the winter have a large flowering event the year after there’s been a food shortage, there are no spillovers. Unfortunately, the problem is “there’s hardly any winter habitat left,” says Raina Plowright, a disease ecologist and study co-author at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York."
A fascinating article featuring Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli who helped identify coronaviruses. But the main message is this: Outbreaks from viruses crossing species will always occur. It's better to spend a small, regular amount to set up and run a regular monitoring system now than to be walloped by a huge expenditure when (not if) it happens again.
#Viruses #CoronaViruses #COVID19 #SARS #Hendra #Nipah #MERS #Diseases #Animals #Environment #Society
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