A state in southern India is desperately trying to contain an outbreak of the Nipah virus after two people died from the rare disease….CONTINUE READING
Hundreds of people are being tested and schools are having to close after the virus was detected in the state’s Kozhikode district, Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. Experts are now gathering samples of fluids from bats and fruit trees after three more people tested positive. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Vijayan confirmed the two deaths and said it was the state’s fourth outbreak since 2018. He wrote: “We should not be afraid, but face this situation with caution.”
The case fatality rate is estimated at 40 to 75 per cent and varies according to local capabilities for epidemiological surveillance and clinical management. Nipah is a zoonotic virus transmitted from animals to humans, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But it can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.
Health workers wearing protective gear shift people who have been in contact with a person infected with the Nipah virus
Infected people initially develop symptoms including fever, headaches, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat.
This can be followed by dizziness, drowsiness, altered consciousness, and neurological signs that indicate acute encephalitis [inflammation of the brain]. Some people can also experience atypical pneumonia and severe respiratory problems, including acute respiratory distress. Encephalitis and seizures occur in severe cases, progressing to coma within 24 to 48 hours.
So far in Kerala, more than 700 people have been identified as close contacts and are being tested for the virus, the state’s health minister Veena George told reporters on Wednesday. However, sometimes initial signs and symptoms of a Nipah infection are nonspecific and so a diagnosis is often not suspected at the time of presentation – causing infection control issues.
Outbreaks of the disease are rare but it has been listed by the WHO, alongside Ebola, Zika and Covid-19, as one of several diseases deserving of priority research for their potential to cause a global epidemic. As a precautionary measure, people at high risk of infection have been advised to stay within their homes. The travel routes of the two Nipah patients who passed away have been disclosed to people so as to prevent people from using them. The neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have also implemented testing requirements for people arriving from Kerala.
In 2018, there was an outbreak that killed 17 people and caused widespread panic in the state. Among the dead was a nurse who was treating patients at a hospital in Kozhikode. Nipah virus was first identified during a 1998-1999 outbreak in Malaysia, where nearly 300 people were infected and more than 100 died, according to the Centre for Disease Control Prevention. More than a million pigs were killed to halt its spread….CONTINUE READING