What is Nipah Virus?

About Nipah Virus

• Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted via animals to humans.
• The organism which causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is an RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
• It was first broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
• It first appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep.
• Transmission
  • The disease spreads through fruit bats or ‘flying foxes,’ of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah and Hendra viruses.
  • The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
• Symptoms
  • Typically, the human infection presents as an encephalitic syndrome marked by fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death
• Treatment: There is no definitive treatment available for the virus.

Q1) What is Encephalitic syndrome?

It is a medical condition characterized by inflammation of the brain. This inflammation can be caused by various factors, including viral infections, autoimmune responses, and certain types of bacteria.

Source: Nipah alert sounded in Kerala after two ‘unnatural’ deaths: All you need to know.