Authorities in southern India are implementing measures to prevent the spread of Nipah, a deadly virus that has already killed two people and infected three others since the last outbreak. Meanwhile, experts are collecting samples for analysis. With offices and schools closed, as well as transportation limited, workers are returning to the hardships experienced during covid-19.
The emergency occurred in the state of Kerala, which led the authorities to close schools, offices and declare many areas of the city in a state of prevention, due to the risk caused by this new, unprecedented in 2018. So far, this rare virus has claimed the lives of two people. Its effects on the human body are damaging to the brain.
According to preliminary information, more than 130 people should be tested for the virus, to control the health emergency. The measures were not implemented in the previous outbreak, nor when the covid-19 pandemic began between 2020 and 2021.
So all these experiences lead the city of Kerala to deal with the strange virus in a better way. Since its spread till now, it has been recorded in the villages of Kozhinkode, where the highest death toll has been recorded.
This is not a new virus
On its website, the WHO explains that “NiV (Nipah virus) was first detected during an outbreak of the disease that occurred in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia, in 1998. (…) In humans, infection due to NiV is associated with a spectrum of clinical manifestations from asymptomatic process to acute respiratory syndrome or fatal encephalitis. He added that it can be transmitted from animals – such as the fruit bat, the flying fox and the pig – to humans, although infections between humans have also been documented.
Various outbreaks of Nipah virus have been recorded in the years since its first detection in humans, mainly in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. According to WHO records, the disease caused by the Nipah virus has no recent epidemic outbreaks. The last one was reported on May 17, 2018 and controlled in July of the same year.
This information is consistent with that published in 2018 on the website of the National Center for Disease Control of India, which does not show any new alerts for this virus.
“According to the latest report of the Central High Level Team, the Nipah virus disease is not a major outbreak and only occurs locally in two districts of Kerala: Kozhikode and Malappuram,” the agency published in May 2018.
In 2019, a man tested positive for this virus in the Indian province of Kerala; However, the quick action of the health authorities prevented its spread and thus turned it into an epidemic outbreak, like the one recorded last year.
