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Hello my dear friends, Hope you all are rocking...

Life is full of adventures, thrills, excitements, suspense and so on... So there is a brand new Virus attacked in India. It is found in Kerala and around 9 people are reported dead due to this virus. Lets have a brief about this Virus and then I will give you answers of some of the questions asked by many.

NiV was first identified in Kampung Sungai Nipah in Malasia during 1998. Pigs were the intermediate hosts for this Virus. In Bangladesh, in 2004, humans became infected with NiV as a result of consuming date palm sap that had been contaminated by infected fruit bats.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis (infection which can be transmitted from animals to humans) that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. Nipah virus causes a rare brain fever that spreads from fruit bats to livestock as well as humans.

Nipah virus was initially discovered when it caused an outbreak of brain fever, respiratory illness among pig farmers in Malaysia in 1998. Its name originated from Sungai Nipah, a village in Malaysia where pig farmers became ill with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

Headache, muscle pain, sore throat, nausea, sudden onset of fever.

Bleeding from eyes, nose and mouth, impared liver and kidney, diarrheoa, vomiting, drowsiness, mental confusion and the disease rapidly progresses to inflammation of the brain leading to disorientation or coma within a few days.

The diagnosis is by ELISA test which is currently done at National institute of Virology, Pune.

 Flying foxes / bats feed on fruits, date palms which get infected
 Pigs are exposed to materials dropped by bats, hence there is a rapid pig to pig transmission of infection.
 People get infected through close contact with infected pigs
 People consume contaminated date palm sap, fallen fruits, consuming fruits eaten by infected bats and birds
 It can spread through close contact with unwell infected patients

 People working with pigs and consuming pigs.
 Farmers who come in contact with bats.
 Consuming Fruits which are already bitten by bat, fruits eaten by infected birds
 Contact with people who already have Nipah virus infection.

How is it treated?

There is no effective treatment for Nipah virus disease, but ribavirin medication may alleviate the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and convulsions. Treatment is mostly focused on managing fever and the neurological symptoms. Severely ill individuals need to be hospitalized and may require the use of a
ventilator. Supportive care is the mainstay of treatment and infected patients may require intensive care monitoring. THERE IS NO APPROVED SPECIFIC THERAPY OR VACCINATION FOR THIS INFECTION. So prevention is the only cure!

How do I prevent it?

 Avoid contact with pigs and pig handlers.
 Maintain personal hygiene and intensive hand washing and sanitization practices
 Avoid consuming raw fruits; consume only well cooked, clean, homemade food till the outbreak settles down.
 Preferably use N95 mask while travelling or working in public places to avoid person to person transmission.
 Be aware of the symptoms and report to the doctor immediately for early diagnosis and treatment.
 Do not drink toddy from areas where bats are found in large numbers
 Do not eat fruit that may have bite marks – given that the origin of these may be unknown.