Pandemic-Category Virus With 70% Death Rate Detected in India and Asian Countries, Virus Transmissible Through Pets and Cattle; Nepal Issues Note of Caution

The international health community's attention has been drawn to the death of a 12-year-old boy after contracting the Nipah virus in the Indian state of Kerala. Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert about the possible risk of Nipah Virus infection after its outbreak was reported in neighboring India.

As the world has just started recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, the last thing that everybody hoped for was yet another virus outbreak. The World Health Organization classifies the Nipah virus as a “virus of concern” for future epidemics. Since 70% of people who are infected with the Nipah virus die, such a strain could represent the worst pandemic humanity has ever faced. In comparison, only 1.4% of people infected with Covid-19 have had a fatal outcome, while 98.6% have recovered. In 2018, when Nipah emerged for the first time in Kerala, only two of the 19 infected people survived.

Ministry Spokesperson Dr. Krishna Prasad Poudel said in a press statement that the risk of the virus outbreak and spread in Nepal could not be ruled out as Nepal and India share an open border. (Source: THT)

Nipah virus was first identified during an outbreak of disease that took place in Malaysia in 1998. Both animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission have been documented. While the virus is not as transmissible as some other viruses (the average transmission rate is less than one person per infection), there are occasional Nipah superspreaders that infect a lot of people.

The virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, primarily from bats or pigs, or through human-to-human contact. The fruit bats, also known as flying foxes, often live in date palm trees near markets, and the virus has spread from bats to humans through food items, such as fruit and raw date palm juice, that were contaminated by infected bats.

The bats can spread it to other animals, such as pigs, horses, goats, sheep, cats, and dogs. And those animals or the bats themselves can give it to people. The symptoms of the Nipah virus resemble that of the coronavirus. The infected person may have a fever, headache, trouble breathing, cough, sore throat, and vomiting. These may be followed by seizures and encephalitis, or brain swelling, which causes problems like disorientation, drowsiness, and confusion. Within 24 to 48 hours, the person may go into a coma. (WebMD)

Because there’s no vaccine against Nipah, the key to lower infection rates in people is through awareness. This includes avoiding contact with infected people and washing your hands regularly, especially after visiting with someone who’s sick. The entire world has hopefully learned these skills from the coronavirus pandemic, and it seems that the world will really need it if the Nipah virus takes over.