The henipaviruses, Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) are known to cause fatal diseases in humans. In 2022, Langya henipavirus (LayV), a novel henipavirus was identified in Eastern China in febrile patients with known recent history of exposure to animals. In a recent study, researchers report the first detection of two novel henipaviruses from kidneys of bats inhabiting orchard near villages in Yunnan province of China. The two newly emerged henipaviruses are phylogenetically distinct strains and are closely related to lethal Hendra and Nipah viruses. This raises concern about potential spillover risk since fruit bats (Pteropus) are natural hosts of henipaviruses which are usually transmitted to humans and livestock through food contaminated with bat urine or saliva.
Hendra virus (HeV) and the Nipah virus (NiV) of genus Henipavirus belonging to Paramyxoviridae family of viruses are highly pathogenic. Their genome consists of a single-stranded RNA surrounded by an envelope of lipid. Both have emerged in the recent past. Hendra virus (HeV) was first identified in 1994-95 through an outbreak in Hendra suburb in Brisbane, Australia when many horses and their trainers became infected and succumbed to lung disease with bleeding conditions. Nipah virus (NiV) was first identified few years later in 1998 in Nipah, Malaysia following local outbreak. Since then, there have been several cases of NiV across the world in different countries especially in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India. These outbreaks were usually associated with high mortality among both human and livestock. The fruit bats (Pteropus species) are their natural animal reservoirs. Transmission occurs from bats via saliva, urine, and excreta to humans. Pigs are intermediate host for Nipah while horses are intermediate hosts for HeV and NiV.
In humans, HeV infections present influenza-like symptoms before progressing to fatal encephalitis while NiV infections often present as neurological disorders and acute encephalitis and, in some cases, respiratory illness. Person-to-person transmission occurs in late stage of infection.
Henipaviruses are fast emerging zoonotic viruses. In June 2022, Angavokely virus (AngV) was identified in urine samples from wild, Madagascar fruit bats. Subsequently, Langya henipavirus (LayV) was identified from the throat swab of febrile patients during sentinel surveillance in China August 2022.
In a study published on 24 June 2025, researchers have identified two new henipaviruses, which are bat-associated and have close evolutionary relationship with lethal Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV). Since bats are natural reservoirs of range of pathogens and kidney can harbour range of pathogens, the researchers in this study, unlike in most of the previous studies that focused on fecal samples, analysed kidney samples for viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. Kidney tissue studied were collected from 142 bats belonging to ten bat species from five locations in Yunnan province of China. The investigation of the entire infectome of the bat kidney revealed presence of several microorganisms that included 20 novel viruses. Two of the novel viruses belonged to henipaviruses genus and were closely related to lethal Hendra and Nipah viruses. The kidney samples containing these two new henipaviruses belonged to the bats living in an orchard near villages. This raises concern about potential spillover risk since fruit bats (Pteropus) are natural hosts of henipaviruses which are usually transmitted to humans and livestock through food contaminated with bat urine or saliva.
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References:
- Kuang G., et al 2025. Infectome analysis of bat kidneys from Yunnan province, China, reveals novel henipaviruses related to Hendra and Nipah viruses and prevalent bacterial and eukaryotic microbes. PLOS Pathogen. Published: 24 June 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013235
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Related articles:
- The Novel Langya virus (LayV) identified in China (10 August 2022)
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 and Nipah virus (NiV) are known to cause fatal diseases in humans. In 2022, Langya henipavirus (LayV), a novel henipavirus was identified in Eastern China in febrile patients with known recent history of exposure to animals. In a recent study, researchers report the first detection of two novel henipaviruses from kidneys of bats inhabiting orchard near villages in Yunnan province of China. The two newly emerged henipaviruses are phylogenetically distinct strains and are closely related to lethal Hendra and Nipah viruses. This raises concern about potential spillover risk since fruit bats (Pteropus) are natural hosts of henipaviruses which are usually transmitted to humans and livestock through food contaminated with bat urine or saliva.){kind=link}