Nipah Virus Threat: How It Could Impact India

The latest death of a kid in Kerala raises new concerns about outbreaks, as health officials strive to limit the virus’s transmission among humans and animals. Nipah virus outbreaks occur nearly every other year in India, according to health officials. Fruit bats transmit it, and it is frequently lethal to humans.

Following the death of a 14-year-old boy from the Nipah virus on Sunday, July 21, 2024, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials attempted to prevent a new outbreak — just a year after the previous outbreak in 2023.

Veena George, Kerala State Health Minister, stated that the youngster died from a heart collapse caused by the infection. Another 60 persons have been identified as being at high risk, she said. Nipah is most common in fruit bats, which live in wooded areas close to the highly populated state of Kerala.

It’s also found in pigs. Humans can pick up an infection from animals either directly, through droplets, or indirectly via contaminated surfaces. Human-to-human transmission is also possible. An infection can trigger encephalitis and lead to mild to severe illness, but also death.

The World Health Organization classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen, which means it has the potential to trigger an epidemic. 

How does the virus spread?

Fruit bats, which feed on nectar and pollen, are more likely to carry the Nipah virus than vampire bats, who consume insects and suck animal blood. Fruit bats are much larger and utilize their eyes, not ultrasound, to orient themselves.

Scientists still don’t know how the virus spreads from fruit bats to pigs, cattle, and even humans. However, there are suggestions that both humans and animals can become infected after coming into touch with fruit bats’ contaminated saliva and urine.

The 2018 outbreak in Kerala was most likely the result of a contaminated drinking water source. Dead fruit bats were later discovered in a well belonging to the home of an affected family in Changaroth. First, many of the family members fell ill. Later, their acquaintances also got sick.

Why is this virus so dangerous?

The Nipah virus causes severe inflammation in the brain. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, the incubation period lasts between five days and two weeks. The initial symptoms are similar to those of the flu, including fever, nausea, and severe headache. Some people have breathing difficulties. Later, disorientation, dizziness, and confusion occur. Within one to two days, patients can fall into a coma and die. The fatality rate from Nipah sickness is 70%.

How can this condition be treated?

There is no vaccine or medicine for the Nipah virus, neither for animals nor humans.So far, medications have only helped to ease discomfort. In theory, patients must be quickly segregated and sent to an intensive care facility where vital body functions can be maintained. Contact persons or suspected cases must be quarantined to prevent the spread of the infectious disease.

Where did the Nipah virus come from?

The Nipah virus was initially detected in 1998 in the Malaysian village of Sungai Nipah. 229 people were diagnosed with febrile encephalitis, a condition caused by the virus entering the brain, and, in some cases, severe respiratory infections. Men who worked in slaughterhouses were the first to contract the virus. It became clear that one may get the sickness from animals.  

Around the same period, pigs in Malaysia experienced a relatively modest outbreak of a respiratory ailment caused by an unknown bacterium. Only later did experts discover that the workers and pigs had been infected with the same virus.

As a precaution, Malaysia killed around 1 million pigs, or half of the country’s total pig population. Since then, incidences of the virus have been reported in Bangladesh in 2001 and 2003, as well as Kerala in 2018, 2021, and 2023.  

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