New Delhi – Authorities in the southern Indian state of Kerala are vying to contain an outbreak of Get rid of the virus. The virus, which is unrelated to the much more deadly coronavirus behind the current global pandemic, killed a 12-year-old boy in Kerala over the weekend, prompting an intense search effort. your contacts. New infections have been confirmed.
The boy was admitted to a hospital a week ago with a high fever. As his condition worsened and doctors suspected he had inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), his blood samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology, where tests confirmed a Nipah infection. He died early Sunday.
Government authorities have stepped up efforts to track contacts, identifying, quarantining and testing people who may have come in contact with the young victim. According to state Health Minister Veena George, 188 people who came in contact with the boy had been identified on Monday. Of these, 20 were considered high-risk primary contacts, mainly members of their family, all of whom were all under strict quarantine or hospitalized.
Two health workers who came in contact with the victim already had symptoms of Nipah infection on Monday. They were admitted to a hospital and their blood samples were sent for testing.
Authorities sealed the area within a two-mile radius of the boy’s home and examined people for symptoms in all adjacent districts of the state of Kerala. The neighboring state of Tamil Nadu was also on high alert for any suspected cases of fever.
This is the second time in three years that a Nipah virus outbreak has been reported in Kerala, which is also affected by a high rate of COVID-19 infections. The state reports about 68% of the approximately 40,000 new cases in India every day.
What is the Nipah virus?
Like the coronavirus, Nipah is a zoonotic virus or one that is transmitted from animals to humans. Transmission usually occurs when humans come into direct contact with animals or through the consumption of contaminated food. But a high number of cases of Nipah transmission between humans have also been reported.
Fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae – commonly known as the “flying fox” – are the natural carriers of Nipah. They are known to transmit the virus to other animals, including pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses, and sheep.
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An infected human usually shows symptoms such as fever and headache for any period of three days to two weeks, followed by cough, sore throat and respiratory problems. Subsequently, the disease progresses rapidly to inflammation in brain cells, causing drowsiness, confusion, and then possible coma and death.
There is still no cure or vaccine for Nipah and patients only receive supportive medical care.
According to the World Health Organization, up to 75% of Nipah infections are fatal. In comparison, the coronavirus mortality rate is believed to be approximately 2%. About 20% of survivors experience neurological symptoms that may persist, including seizures and personality changes.
A broader threat?
The Nipah virus was first discovered in Malaysia in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers. Since then, there have been multiple outbreaks, all in South and Southeast Asia. In all, he is known to have killed more than 260 people.
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An outbreak in Bangladesh in 2004 dates back to humans consuming date palm sap that had been contaminated by infected fruit bats. The latest outbreak in India, which affected Kerala in 2018, killed 17 of the 18 people who have captured it. All of these infections go back to fruit bats found dead in the water of a family well.
Nipah is considered less contagious than coronavirus, but has a much higher mortality rate, a longer incubation period of up to 45 days, and its ability to infect a much wider variety of animals. and prevent the next pandemic.
Veasna Duong, head of virology at the Pasteur Institute research laboratory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, has studied human-bat interactions in the region and told the BBC earlier this year that the proximity in which it is they find people and bats in markets and other crowded places in Asia pose a serious risk.
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“This type of exposure can allow the virus to mutate, which can cause a pandemic,” Duong told the BBC Future program, adding that in some circumstances the virus could even find a host to take it out of Asia.
“It simply came to our notice then [fruit bats] here and in Thailand, in markets, places of worship, schools and tourist sites like Angkor Wat, there are a lot of bats, ”he told the BBC Future program. “In a normal year, Angkor Wat welcomes 2.6 million visitors. That’s 2.6 million chances for the Nipah virus to jump from bats to humans annually in one place.”
Scientists warn that as the climate warms and humans destroy more natural habitat of species such as fruit bats in Asia, increase the chances of new zoonotic variants.
The WHO says in its note on the Nipah virus that “the risk of international transmission can be prevented through fruit or fruit-derived products (such as raw date palm juice) contaminated with urine or saliva from infected bats, by washing -good them and peel them before consumption. Fruits with signs of bat bites should be discarded. “