What's New :
IAS 2025: Target PT Prelims Classes and Tests. Get Details
17th September 2024 (10 Topics)

Nipah Virus

Context

A 24-year-old student has died from the Nipah virus in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

What is Nipah?

  • Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus transmitted from animals to humans. The virus was first identified in Malaysia in 1998.
  • It is transmitted to humans mainly from fruit bats, pigs, contaminated fruits, or through human-to-human transmission.
  • Symptoms: Symptoms can range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection.
    • Initial symptoms: headache, muscle pain, vomiting, and sore throat, later leading to severe respiratory issues, atypical pneumonia, and neurological issues such as encephalitis. O
    • Other symptoms: dizziness, drowsiness, and altered consciousness.
  • Nipah can cause a lethal, brain-swelling fever in humans.
  • Fruit bats are known as the reservoir of the virus, and all the outbreaks in Kerala had been reported during the May-September period – the rainy season.
  • Nipah is classified as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) because of its potential to trigger an epidemic.
  • There is no vaccine to prevent infection and no treatment to cure it.

Other important zoonotic viruses:

  • Rabies Virus: It is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected animal, such as dogs, bats, or other mammals.
  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS): Contact with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva.
  • Ebola Virus Disease (EVD): Direct contact with blood, bodily fluids, or tissues of infected animals like bats or primates.
  • Lassa Fever Virus: Contact with urine or feces of infected rodents (multimammate rats).
  • SARS-CoV (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus): Respiratory droplets and contact with infected animals (e.g., civet cats).
  • MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus): Respiratory droplets and contact with camels or infected individuals.
  • Zika Virus: Primarily through mosquito bites, but can also be transmitted through sexual contact and from mother to baby.
  • West Nile Virus: Mosquito bites, with birds as the primary reservoir.
  • Influenza A Virus (Avian Flu): Contact with infected birds or their droppings.
  • Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus: Tick bites, and possibly through consumption of unpasteurized dairy products.
X

Verifying, please be patient.

Enquire Now