WASHINGTON (AP) - A virus that killed 106 people in outbreaks during 1998 and 1999 in Malaysia and Singapore has been identified as a new viral species capable of infecting both animals and humans.

A study appearing Friday in the journal Science said the virus has been named Nipah and researchers said it is closely related to another new virus called Hendra.

Together, the two viruses represent a new genus within the family of viruses known as Paramyxoviridae, said co-author Dr. William J. Bellini of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Unlike other members of the virus family, which generally infect only one type of animal, Nipah and Hendra are capable of infecting a variety of animals - dogs, cats, pigs, bats, horses and humans. Most animals recover from the virus, but it is lethal to about 40 percent of human patients, causing severe encephalitis, said Bellini.

Researchers said the virus can be spread to humans from the urine and mucus of infected animals. It causes respiratory symptoms in pigs and the animals can expel the virus in their cough. Bellini said that tropical fruit bats appear to be unharmed by the virus, but they are carriers and may possibly spread it.

Medical sleuths started investigating the virus after patients developed illnesses in Malaysia in 1998 and later, in Singapore.

The illness was first diagnosed as Japanese encephalitis, but further study showed it was not linked to mosquitos and that most patients were adults workers who handled pigs.

The Singapore outbreak ended when pig imports from Malaysia were halted. The disease was stopped in Malaysia after more than a million pigs in the infected area were destroyed.

There were 11 cases in Singapore and one death, and 265 cases in Malaysia and 105 deaths.

Bellini said that health care workers are now alerted to the risks of the virus, but he said it does not represent a major worldwide health threat.

``So far as global risk is concerned,'' he said, ``it is a minor player.''

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