‘Epidemic potential’ Nipah virus with no vaccine or treatment spreading in India
Indian health authorities are tackling a Nipah virus outbreak after five cases of the incurable disease were detected.
The infections from the bat-borne pathogen were reported in the eastern state of West Bengal near the state capital Kolkata, India’s third-most populous city.
Three new infections were reported this week, authorities said.
They include a doctor, a nurse, and a health staff member, according th Press Trust of India news agency.
Two nurses, a male and female, had tested positive earlier. Both were working at the private Narayana Multispeciality Hospital in Barasat, some 15 miles north of Kolkata.
Narayan Swaroop Nigam, the principal secretary of the department of health and family, said one of the two nurses is in critical condition after both developed high fevers and respiratory issues between New Year’s Eve and January 2, The Telegraph reports.
The nurse, who is in a coma, is thought to have caught the infection while treating a patient with severe respiratory issues. The patient died before tests were carried out.
Now the authorities have tested 180 people and quarantined 20 high-risk contacts.
What is the Nipah virus?
Nipah virus spreads between animals and people, such as from infected bats or pigs, and it can also be transmitted between people.
Fruit bats, which are common in India across cities and countryside, are the natural hosts of the virus.
In humans, the virus can show as an asymptomatic infection and acute respiratory issues. Symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat, and severe cases of brain inflammation can lead to a coma within 24 to 48 hours.
It has a fatality rate of between 40% to 75%, and there is no treatment or vaccine against Nipah.
What does ‘priority pathogen’ mean?
The virus has been classified as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has the potential to trigger an epidemic.
The organisation has called for urgent research and development into the pathogen, including animal and human vaccine work.
Should we be worried about it?
Zoonotic diseases – meaning animal-to-human-transferring – have emerged has a source of concern for experts, especially after the Covid-19 and SARS pandemics.
Zoonotic diseases can spread more easily due to human interference with wildlife and environmental changes.
India has seen cases of the virus almost every year in more than two decades.
Nipah has been linked to dozens of deaths in the southern state of Kerala since the virus was first spotted there in 2018.
Nipah was first detected in Singapore and Malaysia among pig farmers in 1999, and there have been subsequent outbreaks in parts of India and Bangladesh since.
While the virus is common in some species of bats, humans being infected with it is rare, with most likely source from bats caused by eating an infected animal, Rajeev Jayadevan, the ex-president of Indian Medical Association, Cochin, said.
The risk of a Nipah virus infection can be reduced by avoiding exposure to pigs and bats and not drinking raw date palm sap, which could have been in contact with the animal.
Nipah does not occur in the UK, and no cases linked to travel have been reported.
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