Ghanaian bat henipavirus

Ghanaian bat henipavirus (also known Kumasi virus (KV) belongs to the genus Henipavirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. Human infections are caused by zoonotic events where the virus crosses over from another animal species. Therefore, humans are not the innate host for this virus family but instead become infected by peripheral viral reservoirs such as bats and other carriers of the virus. When these virus are spread to humans through zoonotic events they have been found to be one of the most deadly viruses with the capability to infect humans, with mortality rates between 50 and 100%. Therefore, these viruses have been classified as a biosafety level four (BSL-4) virus with regards to its pathogenesis when it infects humans.

Compared to other henipaviruses, KV exhibits reduced surface expression of the attachment glycoprotein (KV-G). It is likely that KV-G expression is delayed in the endoplasmic reticulum and is not exported as readily to the cell surface due to defects in higher-order oligomerization. This may lead to reduced pathogenicity.