2023-09-12 15:19:10
• Nipah is not pandemic but epidemic only
• Can be controlled quickly
• But death rate is high
Nipah virus first appeared in 1998 in Malaysia and then in Singapore. After the El Nino phenomenon destroyed the Malaysian forests, the Nipah virus spread from bats, which mainly feed on forest fruits, to wild animals such as pigs. Later, the mutated virus spread to humans. Nipah virus was first discovered in Kampung Baru Sungai Nipah, Malaysia. Nipah virus, which was transmitted only from animals to animals, must have mutated and spread to humans and then from humans to humans.
Cause of disease
Nipaviruses are RNA viruses belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, closely related to Hendraviruses. The natural carriers of Nipah virus are bats of the genus Pteropus which live mainly on fruits. The virus is spread through bat droppings, urine, saliva and semen. In Malaysia, the disease was transmitted from bats to pigs and then to humans. The disease is mainly spread through fruits left behind by bats and drinks collected in pots in bat-infested areas. Only in Malaysia has the disease been reported from pigs to humans.
Symptoms
The disease is transmitted to others through the secretions of the patient. Symptoms of Nipa include fever, headache, dizziness, cough and fainting. Encephalitis, which affects the brain, can cause death. The mortality rate ranges from 40 to 60 percent. Diagnosis can be made by RT-PCR and ELISA tests, and the disease can be accurately diagnosed by immunohistochemistry examination of tissue samples from dying patients.
Disease transmission
In Malaysia in 1998-99, 265 people were infected and 105 died. Out of 11 people diagnosed with the disease in Singapore, only one died. Nipah virus disease appeared in 2001 in Mehrpur district of Bangladesh. Then the disease spread to many districts of Bangladesh. As of March 2012, 263 people have been infected in Bangladesh. Of these, 196 (74.5%) died.In 2001, in Siliguri, West Bengal, India, 71 people were infected with Nipah virus disease and 50 died. In 2007, 30 people were infected in Nadia and 5 people died. Since 1998, Nipah virus disease has affected 477 people in different countries. 252 of them died. The death rate in different countries was between 40 and 75 percent.
Nipa in Kerala
Nipah virus outbreak occurred in Kerala in May 2018. Although 28 people showed symptoms, 18 people were diagnosed with the disease. 17 people have died and the disease was first confirmed by the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The source of the epidemic was Perabra, a village in Kozhikode. It is clear that the disease was transmitted to humans from fruit bats. It has been proven that the 17 people who died due to the disease had contracted the disease from Muhammad Sabit of Perampra Changarot Panchayat, the first victim of Nipah virus. Later in 2019, a 23-year-old student was infected with Nipah virus in Kochi in June 2019, but he recovered following treatment. No specific drugs or vaccine have been found for Nipah virus disease. Ribavirin, a drug that destroys viruses, is in the experimental stage. Efforts are underway to develop a vaccine. Now that Kozhikode has once more been affected by Nipah and there have been confirmed deaths, a detailed study has to be done to find out the reasons for the repeated appearance of Nipah in Kerala.
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