Why in news?

• Two people have died and four others are under treatment after contracting Nipah virus in Kerala’s Kozhikode district.
• While the Nipah virus does not spread as quickly as the Covid-19 virus, it is more deadly.

What’s in today’s article?

• Nipah virus

Nipah virus

• About
  • 
  • Nipah is a zoonotic disease, which means it is transmitted to humans through infected animals or via contaminated food.
  • First identified during an outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore, primarily affecting pigs and the people who worked closely with them.
    • The virus is named after the Malaysian village of Sungai Nipah, where the outbreak occurred. No new outbreaks have been reported in Malaysia since 1999.
• Family & Natural hosts
• Nipah virus is part of the Paramyxoviridae family and is closely related to the Hendra virus.
  • The Paramyxoviridae family is a group of single-stranded RNA viruses that cause infections in vertebrates.
• Fruit bats are the natural hosts for Nipah virus. There is no apparent disease in fruit bats.
• Transmission
  • It is primarily transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals, particularly fruit bats (flying foxes).
    • Fruit bats are known to transmit this virus to other animals like pigs, and also dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep.
    • The transmission from animals happens mainly through consumption of contaminated food.
  • Human-to-human transmission can also occur, mainly through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals.
• How fast does the Nipah virus spread?
  • The Nipah virus is known to spread far more slowly than SARS-CoV-2. However, it is its ability to kill that is the biggest concern.
  • According to WHO, the overall global case fatality rate of Nipah is estimated at 40% to 75% .
  • However, so far, all outbreaks of the Nipah virus have been localised and contained relatively quickly.
    • One of the main reasons for a relatively quick end to an outbreak is the fact that Nipah virus is not very infectious and human-to-human transmission is not very easy.
    • Further, the very high death rates also contribute to low transmission.
• Signs and symptoms
• Human infections range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection (mild, severe), and fatal encephalitis.
• Infected people initially develop symptoms including fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat.
• The incubation period (interval from infection to the onset of symptoms) is believed to range from 4 to 14 days.
• Diagnosis
  • Initial signs and symptoms of Nipah virus infection are nonspecific, and the diagnosis is often not suspected at the time of presentation.
  • Nipah virus infection can be diagnosed with clinical history during the acute and convalescent phase of the disease.
  • The main tests used are real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from bodily fluids and antibody detection via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
• Treatment
  • There are currently no drugs or vaccines specific for Nipah virus infection although WHO has identified Nipah as a priority disease for the WHO Research and Development Blueprint.
  • Intensive supportive care is recommended to treat severe respiratory and neurologic complications.
• Past Outbreaks
  • It was also recognized in Bangladesh in 2001, and nearly annual outbreaks have occurred in that country since.
  • The disease has also been identified periodically in eastern India.
  • Evidence of the virus has been found in the known natural reservoir and several other bat species in a number of countries, including Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines, and Thailand.