A Central Team deployed by the Union Minister of Health and Family is closely reviewing the public health measures for Nipah Virus in Kerala.
About:
Source: The natural host of the Nipah virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family and Pteropous genus, widely found in South and South East Asia. However, the actual source of the current infection is not yet known.
Transmission: The infection is generally transmitted from animals to human beings, mainly from bats and pigs. Human-to-human transmission is also possible, and so is transmission from contaminated food.
Health impact:
Nipah virus causes infection in human beings, which can sometimes be fatal.
Patients either show no symptoms of the infection, thereby making it difficult to detect, or develop acute respiratory problems, or encephalitis that often becomes fatal.
Treatment: There is no treatment available as of now, either for humans or animals, nor any vaccine.
History: First identified in 1999 in Malaysia, Nipah virus infections have been detected quite frequently in Bangladesh. There have been a few incidents of infection in India earlier, apart from last year’s outbreak in Kerala.
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