Study for the ACVPM Infectious Diseases Exam with engaging quizzes, flashcards, and detailed explanations. Prepare thoroughly and enhance your knowledge to excel in the test!

Multiple Choice

Which animal is the likely source of Hendra virus infection to humans?

Hendra virus naturally circulates in fruit bats, but humans most often become infected through an intermediate host, typically a horse. Bats can contaminate an environment with saliva, urine, or feces, and a horse can become infected. Humans then acquire the virus through close contact with secretions, blood, or tissues of an infected horse, or during procedures like necropsy. That makes an infected horse the most likely source of infection to humans. Dogs or cats are not established primary sources, and direct bat-to-human transmission is not the usual route.

Hendra virus naturally circulates in fruit bats, but humans most often become infected through an intermediate host, typically a horse. Bats can contaminate an environment with saliva, urine, or feces, and a horse can become infected. Humans then acquire the virus through close contact with secretions, blood, or tissues of an infected horse, or during procedures like necropsy. That makes an infected horse the most likely source of infection to humans. Dogs or cats are not established primary sources, and direct bat-to-human transmission is not the usual route.