Nipah Virus Outbreak: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Remedies

D o you think Nipah virus outbreak in Nepal? Well, it high time that Nipah Virus is spreading throughout South India and then perhaps Nepal also cannot escape from the same fate. NIPAH VIRUS is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes several diseases in both animals and humans. The major cause of this virus is the fruit Bats Chamero.

Swine Flu: Facts

• It is a RNA Virus. The first outbreak of the Nipah Virus took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998
• Its first host were the pigs from which the virus spread
• The outbreak took place in Singapore in 1999
• The first incident of Nipah virus outbreak in humans took place in Bangladesh in 2004 by eating date palm sap infected by fruit bats
• It has symptoms like asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis
• Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (bats, pigs), and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human.

How is it transmitted:

• Humans to Human.
• Bats to Human by eating infected fruits[/highlight].

Major symptoms:

• • Fever (100 F or greater)
  • headaches
  • Muscle pain
  • Vomiting
  • Sore throat

This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis
Incubation Period: 4-14 days from the infection.
 Remedies:

1. No remedy has been discovered yet for both animals and humans(Relenza)

Clinical Diagnosis of Nipah Virus

• enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
• polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay
• virus isolation by cell culture

Precautions to be taken

• Preventing bats from accessing fruits and date palm sap
• Gloves and other protection clothing should be worn while treating sick animals
• Close contact with Nipah virus infected person should be avoided

Attempts to Neutralize the virus outbreak: Nipah virus is on the WHO list of Blueprint priority diseases

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