Thus, it is now clearly established that Hendra virus is a fruit bat virus and is widely distributed throughout the range of pteropid bats in Australia. Serologic evidence of infection of fruit bats has also been reported in Papua New Guinea. Transmission of the virus It has been shown experimentally that Hendra virus can cause severe clinical disease in cats and guinea pigs. There is infection, but no disease, in fruit bats and rabbits. No infection or disease occurs in dogs, chickens, rat and mice.
Infected animals excrete the virus in their urine.
Most importantly, the research also shows the virus is not carried on the breath of horses. This helps to explain why it is not highly contagious. Rigorous hygiene practices in horse stables could greatly assist the eradication of the outbreak. This new Malaysian Paramyxovirus was first tested in CDC, Fort Collins and found not to be related to any known arboviruses. In addition, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction using consensus primers directed against alphaviruses, flaviviruses and bunyaviruses were negative.