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Last week, authorities in a southern Indian region They issue a health alert After confirming the re-emergence of the deadly virus Nipah (NiV)At least two people have died in this new outbreak, and measures are being taken to prevent its spread.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George told a parliamentary meeting that authorities have closed schools in at least seven villages in southern Kerala’s Kozhikode district that have been declared containment zones, NDTV television channel reported. .
An outbreak of the virus was first detected in India in June 2018, when 17 people died It is in the affected areas of Kozhikode and Malappuram in Kerala.
Nipah virus infection, also known as Nipah virus encephalitiswas first isolated and described in 1999 after being discovered in domestic pigs in Malaysia and Singapore a year earlier.
The name “Nipah” comes from a village in Malaysia where the virus was first isolated from a patient who died from the disease. Previously, the infected person had been initially diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis.
How is Nipah virus spread?
The disease caused by Nipah virus is zoonotic.In countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, human transmission is through direct contact Feces from infected pigswhile in Bangladesh this happens through contaminated food bat guano.
The World Organization for Animal Health states that the virus is present in the urine of fruit bats (known as “flying foxes”) and may also be present in saliva, feces and birth fluids.
It is believed that Malaysia’s deforestation program has led to the species arriving on fruit trees on pig farms, exposing domestic pigs to its urine and feces.
Although it is a disease Transmitted from animals to humansCases of human-to-human transmission of the virus have been detected in Bangladesh and India.
To date, outbreaks of viral infection have only been found in pigs in Malaysia, Singapore, India and Bangladesh, with evidence of clinical disease also found in fruit bats in Cambodia, Thailand and Madagascar.
What are the symptoms of Nipah virus disease?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), human infection may be asymptomatic or may cause mild or severe acute respiratory illness or even fatal encephalitis.
Infected people will initially experience flu-like symptoms such as: Fever, headache, myalgia, vomiting, and sore throat.These can all be followed Dizziness, drowsiness, changes in consciousness, and neurological signs This is a symptom of acute encephalitis. Some people may also suffer from SARS and severe respiratory illness.
The organism that causes Nipah virus encephalitis is an RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, belongs to the genus Henipavirus and is closely related to Hendra virus. The latter can cause acute infections of the respiratory system in horses and humans and has been recorded in Australia.
Unfortunately, there is no preventive vaccine, so doctors can only treat symptoms and Mortality rate as high as 70%According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Due to its epidemic potential, the World Health Organization has placed Nipah virus on its list of priority diseases for investigation, along with Ebola or Zika. Research into vaccine development continues in Australia and France.
Information from EFE.