image: This is a giant pteropus fruit bat flying. This is a host of Nipah virus. Nipah virus is shed from bats and can infect animals and people. Hendra virus is also found in large fruit bats (flying foxes) in Australia, and can be shed from bats typically infecting horses and humans can become infected from horses that are shedding the virus. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the Aug. 8, 2012 issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by Dr. K.N. Bossart at Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass., and colleagues, was titled, "A Hendra Virus G Glycoprotein Subunit Vaccine Protects African Green Monkeys from Nipah Virus Challenge." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Dr. Jon Epstein, EcoHealth Alliance