Concerns about this deadly viral disease have been aroused by the recurrence of Nipah infection in Kerala, which has resulted in two confirmed fatalities and two people who are receiving treatment. Nipah is substantially more lethal than COVID-19 while not being as contagious as it is. Case mortality rates range from 40% to 75%.
What is Nipah Virus Infection?
- Nipah is a zoonotic illness, which means that sick animals or tainted food can spread it to people.
- Also feasible is direct person-to-person transmission through close contact with an infected person.
- Fever, headache, cough, sore throat, breathing difficulties, and vomiting are among the symptoms.
- When Nipah infection is severe, it can cause coma and death by causing confusion, sleepiness, seizures, and encephalitis (brain swelling).
Transmission of Nipah Virus
- Historical Outbreaks: The Nipah virus, which takes its name from a Malaysian hamlet where it was initially identified, was first detected in Malaysia (1998) and Singapore (1999). Consuming tainted food is the main way that diseases spread from animals to people. This can happen if you eat fruit that has been tainted with bat saliva or urine, uncooked date palm sap, or both.
- Host Reservoir for Animals: The virus’s known hosts are fruit bats, also referred to as flying foxes. They spread it to pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses, sheep, and other animals. Human infection typically happens as a result of close contact with these animals or eating food that has been tainted by their saliva or urine. There is also evidence of human-to-human transmission, particularly in contexts like families and hospitals.
Nipah Virus Spread and Mortality
- Slow Spread: The Nipah virus spreads more slowly than the SARS-CoV-2, which spreads quickly. However, a major worry is the high death rate.
- High fatality: Nipah has demonstrated a fatality rate as high as 68-75% during outbreaks. For instance, during the Siliguri outbreak in 2001, 45 of the 66 affected people perished from the virus. Similar to the Kerala epidemic in 2018, 17 of the 18 confirmed cases passed away.
- Confined epidemics: It is noteworthy that Nipah epidemics have stayed confined and have been rapidly contained. This confinement is made possible by the virus’s low level of human-to human transmission and restricted infectiousness.
- Reproductive Number (R0): According to studies, Nipah outbreaks have a R0 of roughly 0.48, indicating a modest rate of population transmission. If the R0 number is less than 1, it is possible that an infected person does not spread the disease to more than one other person, which would result in a reasonably quick end to the outbreak.
- High Mortality Rates Limit Transmission: The virus’s high mortality rates also contribute to limiting its spread.
