Nipah

Dr Zaliha Mustafa explained that the Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus that is transmitted from animals to humans and can cause complications such as encephalitis and acute respiratory illness, with a 40 to 70 per cent fatality rate.

Is Nipah virus deadlier than COVID-19?

Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) or PCR tests are used to detect the Nipah virus, she said.

Some individuals infected with the Nipah virus may also experience acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

The Australian Department of Agriculture and Industry says Australia is free of Nipah virus, “however, an incursion of this virus would have serious consequences for both animal and human health”.

The Kerala government has withdrawn containment in all zones and allied restrictions imposed in northern Kozhikode district as no new cases of Nipah virus have been reported here since September 16.

The possibility of a Nipah virus pandemic was the inspiration for the 2011 blockbuster Contagion, which starred Kate Winslet and Gwyneth Paltrow in a dystopian world struck by a terrifying illness.

To this end, they have taken the significant step of ordering the sole available antiviral treatment for Nipah virus infection, a monoclonal antibody supplied by ICMR, even though its clinical efficacy has not yet been definitively established.

With two confirmed deaths due to the dreaded Nipah virus and four more cases suspected in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, health authorities have sounded alarm bells.

One known virus that bears some resemblance to the fictional SEERS-25 is the Nipah virus.

The 14-year-old boy from Kerala’s Malappuram, who was undergoing treatment here for Nipah infection, died Sunday, state Health Minister Veena George said.

The 24-year-old, who lived near Wandoor in Kerala, has become the recent victim to perish from the encephalitis-inducing Nipah virus, marking the second death in the area in recent months.

Transmission: The Nipah virus is primarily spread from fruit bats to humans.

Nipah virus (NiV) infections have been occurring in Bangladesh and Malaysia since 1998.

Recent ones include HIV (chimpanzees), Ebola (bats), Nipah (pigs and bats) and H1N1 Influenza (pigs and birds).

The State government will continue necessary surveillance and preventive measures to contain the spread of the virus, just as it did in the case of Nipah and Ebola.

According to the World Health Organisation, Nipah virus is a newly emerging disease that can be transmitted from its reservoir (natural wildlife host), the flying foxes (fruit bats), to both animals and humans.

Bank of Ghana’s appointed receiver for the insolvent and dormant Microfinance Companies, Mr. Eric Nana Nipah, will however start paying depositors of the 347 insolvent microfinance companies whose claims have been validated and agreed from today.

In particular, Aashiq Abu expressed appreciation to the Kerala government’s administrative and medical teams that swung into action and completed necessary trials and protocols within record time to deal with the Nipah virus outbreak in 2018.

It should be noted that this Aashiq Abu directorial is a survival thriller, and it portrays some real-life incidents which happened in Kerala last year when Nipah virus started killing humans with full fury.