Nipah virus

• Scientists at the University of Oxford in the U.K. have launched first-in-human vaccine trials for the deadly Nipah virus which impacts many Asian countries, including India.
• The trials of the ChAdOx1 NipahB vaccine, consisting of 51 people aged 18 to 55, will be led by the Oxford Vaccine Group.
• The vaccine uses the ChAdOx1 platform, the same viral vector vaccine platform that was used for the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

ABOUT NIPAH VIRUS

• Nipah virus was first identified in 1998 with outbreaks in Malaysia and Singapore.
• Outbreaks have occurred in countries in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India, with a recent one in Kerala in September last year.
• Nipah virus is carried by fruit bats and may also be transmitted by contact with infected animals (such as pigs) or from person-to-person via close contact.
• Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, and vomiting, with severe cases potentially leading to encephalitis, coma, and death.
• The virus, which is recognised by the World Health Organization as a priority disease requiring urgent research, belongs to the same family of paramyxoviruses as more well-known pathogens like measles.
• Nipah virus is a devastating disease that can be fatal in around 75% of cases.
• There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.