Following the recovery from the Covid-19 virus, another virus is now spreading in one of the world’s most populous nations, India, particularly in the Kerala region. The Nipah virus has caused an epidemic in the region that led to five cases and two fatalities. The region is currently under strict watch, and businesses and schools are closed. Kerala has seen four outbreaks of the Nipah virus, with the most recent killing 17 people out of 23 confirmed cases in 2018.
First discovered in Malaysia in 1978, the Nipah virus is an RNA virus belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family. It has been responsible for a sizable number of cases and fatalities. Annual outbreaks take place, mostly in Bangladesh but also in India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. With symptoms such as fever, a very bad headache, confusion, and chest infections, the virus frequently causes encephalitis.
The Nipah virus is currently not curable, and medical treatment focuses on symptom relief. Despite showing promise in animal research, experimental therapies like monoclonal antibodies have not yet been shown successful in people.
Even though the Nipah virus is fatal, its low transmission rate (R value of roughly 0.33) indicates that it has not spread much outside of locations where people have had direct contact with sick bats or other animals. However, habitat degradation brought on by human encroachment may result in more human-animal interaction, raising the risk of transmission.
