Nipah Virus: How To Stay Safe!

Bhubaneswar: After 12 deaths in Kerala, the Nipah virus scare is slowly spreading to other states. In a village of Himachal Pradesh, eight bats were found dead on the premises of a government school. The officials have taken samples for investigation.

Similarly, two persons suspected to be infected with the brain-damaging virus are under treatment in Karnataka.

In Kerala, nine persons have died in Kozhikode district and three in Mallappuram due to Nipah virus.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has written to Queensland government in Australia asking it to provide an antibody developed there to test if it can “neutralise” the virus in humans. The antibody has not been tested on humans so far.

The Odisha government has also asked the authorities of five medical college and hospitals and 30 district headquarters hospitals to remain alert and take immediate steps if any such case comes to their notice.

Let’s know more about this deadly virus and the preventive measures.

What is Nipah?

Nipah virus or NiV, is a disease that was first observed in 1998 in pigs at Malaysia. It is known to cause severe illness in both humans and animals such as pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep. It can spread through feces and excretins of infected pigs, fruit bats, or by consuming fruit infected by the infected animals or even infected people.

Symptoms of Nipah

WHO lists fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, and some, coma as the symptoms of Nipah. It is recommended that the patient must be isolated to prevent spreading of infection to others.

Prevention

1. Hygiene is the most important step. It is essential to wash your hands and face thoroughly, and cover your mouth if you are visiting an infected area.

2. Fruit bats are one of the main sources of this virus. They tend to drop half-eaten fruits which if consumed by other animals or humans can lead to infection.

3. Avoid date palm sap and pork.

4. Avoid fruits in the infected zones.

Vaccine of Nipah

There are no vaccines for Nipah right now, but WHO states that one is being developed.