By: Raghavendra Meena, Researcher Calicut university
The recent outbreak of the Nipah virus was reported from Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. This is the first Nipah virus NiV outbreak in South India. Till now, there have been 14 deaths, 16 confirmed cases, and 12 suspected cases. The two affected districts are Kozhikode and Mallapuram. A multi-disciplinary team led by the Indian Government’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is in Kerala in response to the outbreak. WHO is providing technical support to the Government of India as needed. Officials have recommended not to travel or trade into restrictions or entry screening related to the NiV outbreak.
NiV was first identified during an outbreak of disease that took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia, in 1998. On this occasion, pigs were the intermediate hosts. However, in subsequent NiV outbreaks, there were no intermediate hosts. In Bangladesh in 2004, humans became infected with NiV as a result of consuming date palm sap that had been contaminated by infected fruit bats. Human-to-human transmission has also been documented, including in a hospital setting in India.
NiV infection in humans has a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis. NiV is also capable of causing disease in pigs and other domestic animals. There is no vaccine for either humans or animals. The primary treatment for human cases is intensive supportive care.
What is NiV virus :
Nipah virus (NiV) is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. NiV was initially isolated and identified in 1999 during an encephalitis outbreak and respiratory illness among pig farmers and people with close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. Its name originated from Sungai Nipah, a village in the Malaysian Peninsula where pig farmers became ill with encephalitis.
The Paramyxoviridae is a large family of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses (NNVs) associated with human respiratory illnesses (for example, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human parainfluenza viruses) and with common childhood diseases such as measles and mumps. Owing to phylogenetic relationships, Paramyxoviridae is divided into two subfamilies, the Paramyxovirinae and the Pneumovirinae, and are classified in the order Mononegavirales with the families Rhabdoviridae, Bornaviridae, and Filoviridae. NiV is emblematic of emerging viruses spilling over from its natural bat hosts in Southeast Asia; this virus causes respiratory and encephalic diseases in various mammals, including humans. Because of its mortality rate that can exceed 70% in humans, its potential for human-to-human transmission, and the absence of the vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, NiV is classified among biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) pathogens.
Prevention is better than cure
Prevention of Nipah virus infection is important since there is no effective treatment for the disease. The infection can be prevented by avoiding exposure to bats in endemic areas and sick pigs. Drinking of raw palm sap (palm toddy) contaminated by bat excrete, eating of fruits partially consumed by bats and using water from wells infested by bats should be avoided. Bats are known to drink today that are collected in open containers and occasionally urinate in them, making them contaminated with the virus. Surveillance and awareness are important for preventing future outbreaks. The association of this disease within the reproductive cycle of bats is not well studied. Standard infection control practices should be enforced to avoid nosocomial infections. A subunit vaccine using the Hendra G protein was found to produce cross-protective antibodies against henipavirus. The Nipah virus has been used in monkeys to protect against the Hendra virus. However, its potential for use in humans has not been studied.
Prevention
Avoid close (unprotected) physical contact with infected people
Wear NH95-grade and higher masks
Wash hands regularly with soap
Avoid consuming partly eaten fruits or unpasteurized fruit juices
Avoid being around animal pens
Boil freshly collected date palm juice before consuming
Thoroughly wash and peel fruits before consuming
Maintain your and children's personal hygiene
Cover your household properly
Comments
Post a Comment