There is again the terror in country as many people have lost their lives. It is due to Nipah virus that has taken many lives in Kerala. The entire state has been put on alert and the centre is closely monitoring the situation. Nipah virus is a deadly one. It is also called as NiV. It transmits from humans to animals. The natural host for this virus are fruit bats. It could infect the intermediary i.e. plants or animals and the consumption of these infected plants and animals spread disease in human beings. Know more about it.
Details about Nipah Virus
The Nipah virus or NiV infection has symptoms like acute breathing trouble, inflammation of the brain, fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation and delirium. A patient can slip into coma within 48 hours. In fact, this also spreads from human to human.
This virus infection is an example of a zoonotic disease, where animal diseases can be transmitted to people. This virus has a tendency to adapt or mutate. Even, if somebody has got vaccination swine flu or influenza vaccination this year, the effect of the vaccination may not be last through to the next year because the virus would have mutated by then.
As per WHO, there is no vaccination for the virus which has a mortality rate of 70%. In fact, a nurse who was treating a patient also died.
Precautions to be taken
- Don’t come in direct contact with infected bats, pigs, or from other NiV-infected people. But, it is not easy to identify the infected one.
- Avoid consuming mangoes, rambutan, bananas and sapotta or chikoo.
- Be aware of the symptoms and report to the doctor immediately for early diagnosis and treatment.
History of Nipah Virus
In 1998, NiV was first identified during an outbreak of disease that took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia. That time, pigs were hosts. Later, in 2004, it was reported in Bangladesh where humans became infected as a result of consuming date palm sap. With Human-to-human transmission, it has reached India and first reported in West Bengal.
