Current status of diagnostic assays for emerging zoonotic viruses: Nipah and Hendra

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Nipah and Hendra viruses belong to the Paramyxoviridae family, which pose a significant threat to human health, with sporadic outbreaks causing severe morbidity and mortality. Early symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, and headache, which offer little in terms of differential diagnosis. There are no specific therapeutics and vaccines for these viruses.

Areas covered

This review comprehensively covers a spectrum of diagnostic techniques for Nipah and Hendra virus infections, discussed in conjunction with appropriate type of samples during the progression of infection. Serological assays, reverse transcriptase Real-Time PCR assays, and isothermal amplification assays are discussed in detail, along with a listing of few commercially available detection kits. Patents protecting inventions in Nipah and Hendra virus detection are also covered.

Expert opinion

Despite several outbreaks of Nipah and Hendra infections in the past decade, in-depth research into their pathogenesis, Point-of-Care diagnostics, specific therapies, and human vaccines is lacking. A prompt and accurate diagnosis is pivotal for efficient outbreak management, patient treatment, and the adoption of preventative measures. The emergence of rapid point-of-care tests holds promise in enhancing diagnostic capabilities in real-world settings. The patent landscape emphasizes the importance of innovation and collaboration within the legal and business realms.

KEYWORDS:

• Isothermal amplification
• lateral flow assays
• molecular diagnosis
• re-emerging infectious diseases
• RPA
• RT-LAMP
• serological diagnosis

Article highlights

• In the absence of specific medication and vaccines, resurgent occurrences of lethal infections caused by Nipah and Hendra viruses in Southeast Asia pose a significant threat to human life not only in this region but also in other parts of the world.

• Quick, cheap, sensitive, specific, and readily available diagnostic assays are crucial to identifying and isolating infected people, performing contact tracing, and preventing the spread of the infection.

• Heating, organic solvents, fixatives, detergents or guanidinium isothiocyanate treatment may be employed for inactivation of viruses in infected samples, permitting further diagnostic processing in a low containment facility.

• Western Blotting, Virus Neutralization Assay, and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay are some of the serological assays that have been used for detection of Nipah and Hendra Viruses.

• Reverse Transcription Real-Time PCR, TruNAT, Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification, and Recombinase Polymerase Amplification assays are among the molecular methods for detection of Nipah and Hendra Viruses.

• Analysis of the patent landscape revealed technological gaps as well as opportunities for innovation in the development of point-of-care devices for Nipah and Hendra Virus detection in low-resource settings.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.