NIPAH VIRUS

What is NIPAH VIRUS?

     

     Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly-emerging  Zoonosis (a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals) that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus id fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, pteropus genus.

NIPAH VIRUS (NIV) INFECTION

     According to WHO, Nipah virus was first identified during and outbreak of disease that took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. It is appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats. goats, horses and sheep. the infection is also known to affect human beings,

     The organism which causes Nipah virus encephalitis in an RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and closely related to Hendra virus.

     However, in subsequent NiV outbreaks, there where no intermediate hosts. In 2004,in Bangladesh , human infected with Nipah virus as a result of consuming date palm sap that had been contaminated by infected fruits bats , Human to Human transmission has also been documented , including in a hospital sitting in India.

     Till date. there is no vaccine for either humans or animals

How this virus got its name?

     Nipah virus infection gets its  name from the village in Malaysia where the person from whom the virus was first isolated succumbed to the disease. The NiV has been listed in the world organisation for animal health(OIE) Terrestrial Animal health code.

HOW DOES NIPAH SPREAD OR GETS TRANSMITTED?

The disease spreads through fruit bats of 'flying foxes"  of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah  and Hendraviruses . The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.presumably, the first incidence of Nipah virus infection occurred when pigs in Malaysian farms came in contact with the bats who had lost their habitats due to deforestation, further more, transmission between farms may be due to fomites or carrying the virus on clothing, equipment,boots and vehicles.