2023-10-03 23:24:55
No new cases of Nipah, a deadly virus, has not been recorded in India since September 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Tuesday, October 3, after an epidemic which left two dead at the beginning of the month. From September 12 to 15, six cases of Nipah were confirmed, including two fatalities, in Kozhikode district in the southern Indian state of Kerala. There is no vaccine against this virus, the mortality rate of which is between 40% and 75%, according to the WHO.
The first case, whose source of contamination was not identified, then transmitted the virus to relatives and people within the hospital, the WHO indicated in a situation update on the epidemic. As of September 27, 1,288 contacts of confirmed cases have been traced, including high-risk contacts and health workers who were placed in quarantine and monitoring for 21 days, WHO said. Since September 12, 387 samples have been tested, of which six came back positive, the UN health agency said. “Since September 15, no new cases have been detected”specified the WHO.
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Fruit bats are the natural carriers of the virus and have been identified as the most likely cause of subsequent outbreaks. Nipah is usually spread to humans through animals or contaminated food. It can also be transmitted directly between humans but this mode of contamination is rarer, according to the WHO. The incubation period, the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms, ranges from four to fourteen days, but can be as long as 45 days. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting and respiratory infection, but severe cases can be characterized by seizures and brain inflammation leading to coma.
In 2018, the virus killed at least 17 people in Kerala. Nipah has been listed by the WHO – alongside Ebola, Zika and Covid-19 – as one of several diseases worthy of priority research due to their potential to cause a global epidemic.
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