NIPAH VIRUS: A potent foe to fatally infect human beings en route Bats & Pigs

Concern:

Kerala state authorities are taking preventive steps after the unfortunate death of a 14-year-old boy from the Nipah virus infection and the identification of 60 persons in the high-risk category, the state's health minister said on Sunday.

What is Nipah:

This is a bat-borne, zoonotic virus reaching through bats and pigs, that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals, a disease with a remarkably high mortality rate of 40-75%. Numerous disease outbreaks caused by the Nipah virus have occurred in South-East Africa and South-East Asia. This belongs to the genus Henipavirus along with the Hendra virus, which has also caused disease outbreaks.

 Symptoms:

Nipah virus infection in humans causes a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection (subclinical) to acute respiratory infection and fatal encephalitis. Major symptoms are fever, headache, myalgia, dizziness, altered consciousness, encephalitis, and seizures. This way, the acute infection may lead to brain dysfunction and even death.

As per WHO:

Nipah is classified as a “priority pathogen” by the World Health Organization and opens a new tab (WHO) because of its potential to trigger an epidemic or pandemic. There is no vaccine to prevent infection and no treatment to cure it. The Nipah virus has been classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a Category C agent. This virus is one of several viruses identified by WHO as a potential cause of future epidemics in a new plan developed after the Ebola epidemic for urgent research and development toward new diagnostic tests, vaccines, and medicines.

 Why Kerala in India?

Parts of Kerala are among those most at risk globally for outbreaks of the virus. Nipah, which comes from fruit bats and animals such as pigs, can cause a lethal, brain-swelling fever in humans. Nipah is classified as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) because of its potential to trigger an epidemic. The first cases of Nipah virus infection were identified in 1998, when an outbreak of neurological and respiratory disease on pig farms in peninsular Malaysia caused 265 human cases, with 108 deaths. 

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.