Health

Nipah virus outbreak : All your questions answered

Nipah virus: The outbreak of the NiV in Kerala has been unexpectedly jolting the health officials in the state. For a state that’s attuned to fever-related cases every monsoon, battling the NiV was a different experience.

Q. What is Nipah virus (NiV)?

A: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is a zoonotic pathogen (transmitted from animals to humans) reported for the first time in Malaysia in 1998 in a village known as Kampung Sungai Nipah. The virus’s natural hosts are considered to be fruit bats although it has been found to have been transmitted to humans from pigs as well as seen in Malaysia. In later outbreaks in Bangladesh, people were found to have been infected after consuming date palm sap that was contaminated by virus-carrying fruit bats. The virus can be transmitted from humans to humans as well.

Q. How does the virus get transmitted?

A: Air-borne transmission of the virus can be ruled out, say health officials. WHO says humans could get infected if they come in direct contact with ‘sick pigs or their contaminated tissues.’ Secretions from fruit bats or pigs and droplets can also lead to transmission.

Q. What are the symptoms of Nipah?

A: Influenza-like symptoms such as fever, headaches, sore throat, vomiting, dizziness and muscle pain are the symptoms associated with the viral infection. The incubation period, or the period from infection to first symptoms, is generally 4-14 days though health officials say it can extend to 60 days as well.

Q. What’s the treatment process and is there a cure?

A: Since encephalitic-symptoms are seen in NiV, the fundamental mode of treatment is limited to intensive supportive care for neurological and respiratory complications.

No vaccine or cure has been invented yet.

Q: How is Nipah treated?

A: Since no cure/vaccine has been invented yet, treatment is limited to intensive supportive care which basically means treating the symptoms individually. For example, someone complaining of breathlessness can be put on artificial ventilators. The Kerala government is also supplying Ribavarin, known for its anti-viral properties.