Nipah virus is deadlier than COVID-19; All you need to know

Indian health authorities are articulating the alarm after a dozen people were infected, and a 12-year-old boy lost his lie to the Nipah virus.

Thursday, 9th September 2021

Indian health authorities are articulating the alarm after a dozen people were infected, and a 12-year-old boy lost his lie to the Nipah virus. There is currently no vaccination for the disease. What do we know about the outbreak? A team of specialists has been sent to India's southern state of Kerala to help after samples of the deceased child returned positive to the presence of Nipah. Before dying on Sunday, the boy had symptoms of myocarditis - conditions also known as encephalitis. To date, 11 people in Kerala have been diagnosed with the rare zoonotic virus. The Nipah-positive patients include the boy's parents, his family, and some doctors who treated him. More than 250 others were identified through contact tracing, with 54 in the high-risk category ordered to isolate themselves. How dangerous is Nipah? The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the death rate is 40% to 75%, depending on the efficiency of the health system in the affected region. In contrast, the fatality of Covid-19 varies from 1% to 2%, as per to global data. Nipah creates an acute respiratory infection, followed by fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and a sore throat. Severe cases lead to encephalitis, which can lead to coma and death. The lack of definite indications in the beginning stages makes Nipah difficult to recognise, which often causes obstructions in the implementation of control measures and, therefore, more infections. Where did it come from? The virus was named after a Malaysian Village named "Nipah". The village had first outbreak in pig farmers in 1999. Since then, there had been no such cases. While, Bangladesh had been facing "Nipah Virus" outbreaks every year since 2001. Infections have also been regularly recognised in India. The hosts of the virus are thought to be fruit bats known as flying foxes, which make large colonies in treetops in South and Southeast Asia, often not far from human settlements. How is it spreading? People usually contract the virus by consuming the fruit or drinking the red juice of bats' favourite tree, the date palm contaminated by the saliva or urine of sick fruit-bats. Pigs, horses, goats, sheep, cats and dogs can also work as intermediaries. Unlike Covid-19, which can be developed by airborne transmission, the Nipah passes from person to person through close contact, via secretions and excretions, hence why the family of the infected and medications they care about are usually among the first, who carry the disease.