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Nipah Virus

  • 24 Jul 2024
  • 1 min read

Source: IE

Recently, a 14-year-old boy from Kerala died after testing positive for the Nipah virus.

  • Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus (transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
  • Nature: 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.
  • Hosts and Transmission: NiV initially appeared in domestic pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses, and sheep.
    • It spreads through fruit bats (genus Pteropus). The virus is found in bat urine, faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
  • Fatality: The case fatality rate ranges from 40% to 75%.
  • Symptoms: Causes encephalitic syndrome in humans, presenting with fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death.
  • Diagnosis: Diagnosis can be established through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from bodily fluids and antibody detection via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
  • Prevention: No vaccines available for humans or animals. 
  • WHO Response: It has identified Nipah as a priority disease

Read More: Nipah virus Infection (NiV) 

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