While both viruses efficiently use ephrin-B2 as entry receptors, NiV G was shown to bind ephrin-B3 with a higher affinity than HeV G. Since ephrin-B3 is widely expressed in the CNS, including the brain stem, which lacks ephrin-B2, this may contribute to brain stem disfunction reported in fatal encephalitis cases caused by NiV [85]. This evidence concerns the gene EFNB3 and encephalitis.