Nipah Virus

Current Context : Recently, a 14-year-old boy from Kerala’s Malappuram, who had tested positive for the Nipah virus, died.

About Nipah Virus

• It is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans).
• The organism that causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is an RNA or Ribonucleic.
• Acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
• Hendra virus (HeV) infection is a rare emerging zoonosis that causes severe and often fatal diseases in both infected horses and humans.
• It first broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
• The disease is named after a village in Malaysia, Sungai Nipah, where it was first detected.
• It first appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep.
• Transmission: The disease spreads through fruit bats or ‘flying foxes,’ of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah and Hendra viruses.
• The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
• Symptoms: fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death.

Prevention: Currently, there are no vaccines for both humans and animals. Intensive supportive care is given to humans infected by the Nipah virus.