Nipah virus is also "top of the list" of 10 priority diseases that the WHO has identified as potentials for the next major outbreak.
Kerala's health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan told the BBC that a nurse who treated the patients had also died.
"We have sent blood and body fluid samples of all suspected cases for confirmation to National Institute of Virology in Pune. So far, we got confirmation that three deaths were because of Nipah," he said.
"We are now concentrating on precautions to prevent the spread of the disease since the treatment is limited to supportive care."
Fruit bats are mainly considered to be the natural host of the virus.
Health officials say they have found mangoes bitten by bats in a home, where three people have died of the suspected infection.
What is Nipah virus?
Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats.
The infection was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of encephalitis and respiratory illness among pig farmers and people with close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore.
Nearly 300 human cases with over 100 deaths were reported at the time. In order to stop the outbreak, more than a million pigs were euthanized, causing tremendous trade loss for Malaysia.
Nipah virus infection can be prevented by avoiding exposure to sick pigs and bats in endemic areas and not drinking raw date palm sap.
Symptom of the infection include fever, headache, drowsiness, respiratory illness, disorientation and mental confusion. These signs and symptoms can progress to coma within 24-48 hours.
There is no vaccine for either humans or animals.
(Source: WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus.
NiV was first identified during an outbreak of disease that took place in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. On this occasion, pigs were the intermediate hosts. However, in subsequent NiV outbreaks, there were no intermediate hosts. 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. Human-to-human transmission has also been documented, including in a hospital setting in India.
NiV infection in humans has a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis. NiV is also capable of causing disease in pigs and other domestic animals. There is no vaccine for either humans or animals. The primary treatment for human cases is intensive supportive care.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
70% mortality makes this a really bad one! Smallpox is "only" 50% Case Fatality Rate. Rabies is essentially 100%, only a few people have ever survived a fulminant rabies infection.
The recent "Clade X" pandemic exercise used Nipah as a model for a global outbreak, this is interesting stuff:
Clade X is a pandemic tabletop exercise hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in May 2018 to identify important policy issues and preparedness challenges that could be solved with sufficient political will and attention. The Center designed the Clade X scenario by mixing aspects of actual past events with well-researched fictional elements to illustrate some of the difficult decisions that national leaders could face in a severe pandemic. It is presented through a day-long series of simulated National Security Council–convened meetings of 10 US government leaders, played by individuals prominent in the fields of national security or epidemic response.
Similar to findings from the Center’s 2 previous exercises, Dark Winter and Atlantic Storm, key takeaways from Clade X will educate senior leaders at the highest level of the US government, as well as members of the global policy and preparedness community and the general public. Clade X is distinct from Dark Winter and Atlantic Storm in that it addresses a severe pandemic caused by a novel pathogen.
I'm extremely alarmed at both the country this is taking place in (theost dense country and one of the poorest in the world) as well as how quickly this disease seems to be spreading.
First identified in Malaysia, deadly Nipah virus spreads in India
Published 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
NEW DELHI: The death toll from an outbreak of the rare Nipah virus in
southern India jumped to 10 Tuesday with more than 90 people
quarantined to try to stem the spread of the disease, officials said.
With
tests from other suspect deaths awaited, authorities in Kerala state
have ordered emergency measures to control the virus, which is spread by
fruit bats.
Three of the fatalities are members of the same
family – dead bats were found in a well at their home. A nurse who
treated one of the family members has also died, leaving a
heart-wrenching note for her family.
"We sent 18 samples for
testing. Out of these 12 tested positive. Ten of those who tested
positive have died and the remaining two are undergoing treatment," a
health official in Kerala's Kozhikode district, the centre of the
outbreak, told AFP.
Ninety-four people who have come into contact with those who died have been isolated in their homes.
"They have been quarantined as a precaution," Kerala state health surveillance officer K.J. Reena told AFP.
Nipah
has killed more than 260 people in Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and
India since 1998 and has a mortality rate of nearly 70 per cent,
according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
There is no vaccination for the virus which induces flu-like symptoms that lead to an agonising encephalitis and coma.
The
WHO has named Nipah as one of the eight priority diseases that could
cause a global epidemic, alongside the likes of Ebola and Zika.
Among
the dead in the Kerala outbreak was nursing assistant and mother-of-two
Lini Puthussery, who had helped to treat one of the original family
suffering from Nipah.
Puthussery died on Monday and was cremated
before her family members could bid her a final goodbye because of fears
the virus could spread.
In a final note she scribbled in a hospital isolation unit, she urged her husband to take care of the children.
"I don't think I will be able to see you again. Sorry. Please take care of our children," she said.
Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Puthussery's "selfless service will be remembered".
He
also said many professionals had expressed their willingness to work in
Nipah affected areas. "The government of Kerala welcomes their
service," he said on Twitter.
Health authorities across the state
were on high alert, setting up medical camps and a control room to
tackle the emerging situation.
They have urged residents to take precautions include avoiding eating fruit fallen on the ground and drinking raw date palm sap.
UV Jose, district collector of Kozhikode, said government and private hospitals were working in close coordination.
"Health
staff are visiting individual households giving them specific
instructions including about eating fruits from outside and other
precautions," he told AFP.
Authorities in Goa and Tamil Nadu states, neighbouring Kerala, said they were monitoring the spread of the outbreak.
Nipah
first appeared in Malaysia in 1998. It spread to Singapore and more
than 100 people were killed. On that occasion, pigs were the virus hosts
but they are believed to have caught it from bats.
In India the disease was first reported in 2001 and again six years later, with the two outbreaks claiming 50 lives.
Both times the disease was reported in West Bengal state bordering Bangladesh.
Bangladesh
has borne the brunt of the disease in recent years, with more than 100
people dying of Nipah since a first outbreak was reported in 2001. In
2004, humans became infected with Nipah after eating date palm sap
contaminated by fruit bats. – AFP
Second Indian state reports suspected cases of rare virus, fanning fears of spread
KOCHI/MUMBAI
(Reuters) - Indian health officials were checking on Wednesday if a
rare, brain-damaging virus had spread to a second state after two
suspected cases reported in southern Karnataka, as the death toll in
adjacent Kerala, where the outbreak began, rose to 11.
Nasty bug. Definitely a concern given that it is already capable of H2H transmission with a fearsome CFR, and it's now spreading in a far larger pool of potential hosts.
"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep" "Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary.
Story of one of the nurses who has died from Nipah....she seems to have been very responsible in her actions. I am sorry that caregivers often pay the ultimate price....
Looking at history this virus (nipah is a form of henipa-virus) may spread in a much larger region-South East Asia, northern Australia and infect many mammals (and birds ???).
U.S. biotechs to speed work on Nipah vaccine as virus hits India
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said on
Thursday that Profectus BioSciences and Emergent BioSolutions would
receive up to $25 million to advance development and manufacturing of a
shot for the bat-borne disease.
There is currently no vaccine or treatment to tackle Nipah, which has a mortality rate of around 70 percent.
The
death toll from the latest outbreak in Kerala rose to 12 on Thursday,
following the death of a 61-year-old man who had already lost three
members of his family, including his two sons, to the virus.
Indian officials said they were awaiting blood test results from a further 16 patients suspected to have the infection.
The
experimental vaccine being developed by the biotech companies has
produced promising results in animal tests, following more than 15 years
of research by scientists at the U.S.-based Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences.
Based on data so far, Christopher Broder, one of the main researchers
behind the project, said the Nipah vaccine in development was also
“highly likely” to work against the related Hendra virus.
Experts
believe both Nipah and Hendra are spread by flying foxes - bats of the
genus Pteropus - with humans becoming infected by exposure to bat urine
and saliva on fruit, or from infected pigs and horses. It can also
spread person-to-person.
Outbreaks of Nipah occur annually in
Bangladesh and 105 people died from the virus in Malaysia 1999, when
more than a million pigs were slaughtered to stem its spread.
Still,
Nipah remains a relatively rare tropical disease - like Ebola - which
severely limits the incentive for drug companies to invest in vaccines
or drugs.
It was the slow response to West Africa’s
2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 11,300 people before an
effective vaccine was developed, that prompted the launch of the CEPI
coalition in January 2017.
The group, which sees itself as a
global insurance policy against epidemics, is funded by Norway, Germany,
Japan, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.
Nipah
is on the World Health Organization research and development priority
list alongside Ebola, Zika, MERS, Lassa and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic
fever.
Additional reporting by D. Jose in Kochi and Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Edmund Blair and Alexandra Hudson
Hendra virus is a virus that mainly infects large fruit bats (flying foxes) which can be passed on to horses. The infection has occasionally been passed onto people who have been in close contact with an infected horse.
Last updated: 10 April 2017
What is Hendra virus?
Hendra virus is a virus that infects large fruit bats (flying foxes).
Occasionally the virus can spread from flying foxes to horses and horses can then pass the infection on to humans. A small number of people who had very close contact with infected horses have developed Hendra virus infection.
A single dog showed evidence of exposure to Hendra virus on a property where three horses developed infection in July 2011.
There is no evidence of Hendra virus occurring naturally in any other species.
Hendra virus was discovered following an outbreak of illness in a large racing stable in the suburb of Hendra, Brisbane in 1994.
What are the symptoms?
Hendra virus symptoms in horses
Hendra virus can cause a range of symptoms in horses. Usually there is a rapid onset of illness, fever, increased heart rate and rapid deterioration with respiratory and/or neurological (nervous system) signs. For more information on Hendra virus infection in horses, refer to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
Hendra virus symptoms in people
Symptoms typically develop between 5 and 21 days after contact with an infectious horse.
Fever, cough, sore throat, headache and tiredness are common initial symptoms. Meningitis or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) can develop, causing headache, high fever, and drowsiness, and sometimes convulsions and coma.
Hendra virus infection can be fatal.
How is it spread?
It is thought that horses may contract Hendra virus infection from eating food recently contaminated by flying fox urine, saliva or birth products.
The spread of Hendra virus between horses is possible whenever horses have close contact with body fluids from an infected horse.
All confirmed human cases to date became infected following high level exposures to body fluids of an infected horse, such as doing autopsies on horses without wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, or being extensively sprayed with respiratory secretions.
There is no evidence of human to human, bat to human, bat to dog, or dog to human transmission.
Who is at risk?
People who have had close contact (particularly high level exposures as described above) with an infected horse, without wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, are most at risk.
How is it prevented?
Preventing horse infection
Protect horse feed from contamination by flying fox fluids.
Contact your local veterinarian if you notice unusual disease symptoms, abnormal behaviour or unexpected deaths in your horses. If you cannot contact your veterinarian, contact your animal health authority or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888 (24-hour hotline).
Isolate sick horses from other horses.
A vaccine for horses is available from veterinarians and is strongly encouraged as the single most effective way to reduce the risk of exposure to Hendra virus.
Preventing human infection
While the greatest risk is with sick horses, infected horses can shed Hendra virus for a few days before they show any sign of illness so it is always important to use good hygiene practices when around horses.
Don't kiss horses on the muzzle (especially if the horse is sick).
Cover any cuts or abrasions on exposed skin before handling horses and wash your hands well with soap and water, especially after handling your horse's mouth or nose (e.g. fitting or removing a bridle) and before eating, smoking or touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
If body fluids or manure from a horse gets on unprotected skin the area should be washed with soap and water as soon as possible.
If a horse becomes unwell and Hendra virus infection may be a possibility, as few people as possible should care for the horse until the infection is ruled out.
Appropriate personal protective equipment which prevents contamination of the skin, eyes, nose and mouth by the horse's body fluids should be worn if close contact with the sick horse is considered essential.
Although there is no evidence of Hendra virus spreading from an infected person to another person or animal, health care workers will take a cautious approach and wear personal protective equipment when caring for people suspected or confirmed to be infected.
If you have been exposed to Hendra virus, you should not donate blood or any other tissue until you are cleared of infection. Confirmed cases should never donate blood or any other tissue, even if they full recover.
No human vaccine is currently available.
How is it diagnosed?
People with suspected Hendra virus infection will usually have blood and urine tests. Depending on their symptoms they may also have nose/throat swabs and/or other tests. People with high level exposures to horse body fluids may have blood samples collected over six weeks to check if they have developed antibodies to the infection. Testing for Hendra virus infection is generally not recommended for people who have had lower-level exposure.
How is it treated?
There is no specific treatment for Hendra virus infection and cases are treated supportively in hospital or in intensive care. Antiviral medications have not been found to be effective in treating Hendra virus infection. People who have had high exposures to the body fluids of an infected horse may be offered experimental treatment with a type of antibody that may prevent infection.
What is the public health response?
When a horse is diagnosed with Hendra virus infection, the local public health unit will work closely with the state/territory animal health agency, horse and property owners, and veterinarians to identify people who may have been exposed.
Public health unit staff will identify people who may be at risk and contact them to assess their exposure.
People who may be at risk of infection will be given information about Hendra virus and asked to monitor their health. Where necessary, arrangements will be made for blood tests to be taken.
[Technohobe: It still seemsto be spreading; although, this is, as yet, unconfirmed.]
May 25, 2018 / 9:57 AM / Updated 10 hours ago
Third Indian state checks suspect cases in outbreak of rare brain-damaging virus
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Officials in a third Indian state were checking on
Friday if two people had been infected with the brain-damaging Nipah
virus that has killed 12 in southern Kerala, although the government
described the outbreak as minor.
Such outbreaks are a concern in a country where hundreds die from
infectious diseases each year for lack of vigorous disease tracking
systems. There is no vaccine for the virus, carried by fruit bats, and
the only treatment is supportive care.
The virus has not spread
beyond Kerala, the government said after investigation by health
officials linked the initial deaths to a well colonized by bats whose
water the victims had been using.
“The Nipah virus disease is
not a major outbreak and is only a local occurrence,” the government
said in a statement, adding that a team of experts continued to monitor
the situation.
Blood samples from two men who showed the flu-like
symptoms of the virus were sent for testing, said a health official in
Telangana, a state neighboring Kerala.
“We
just sent them as a precaution,” said K Shankar, medical superintendent
of the Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and Communicable Diseases
in Hyderabad.
Two suspect cases in Karnataka, another state bordering Kerala, proved negative, said a medical official there.
All
the confirmed infections have involved people who caught the virus
from the first victim while he was being treated, said microbiologist G.
Arun Kumar.
“Hospital-acquired infections are a major path of human to human
transmission,” added Kumar, who heads the Manipal Centre for Virus
Research that is testing virus samples.
The virus, spread through contact with bodily fluids, has a mortality rate of about 70 percent.
A
global coalition to fight epidemics this week struck a $25-million deal
with two U.S. biotech groups to speed work on a vaccine.
A
clutch of dead bats discovered on the roof of a school in the northern
state of Himachal Pradesh triggered a brief scare, but there are no
suspected human infections, said health official Sanjay Sharma.
The finding of dead bats was not an unusual event, said one state forest official.
“This
is not unusual, but the department has sent bat samples for tests as a
precautionary measure,” said the official, Ramesh Kang.
Two Patients From Hyderabad Test Negative For Nipah Virus
The Telangana government earlier today said it has sent blood samples
and throat swabs of two patients suffering from fever to the NIV for
tests for the Nipah virus infection.
The
virus has not spread beyond Kerala, the government said after
investigation by health officials linked the initial deaths to a well
colonised by bats whose water the victims had been using.
Blood
samples from two men who showed the flu-like symptoms of the virus were
sent for testing, said a health official in Telangana, a state
neighbouring Kerala.
We just sent them as a precaution," said K Shankar, medical
superintendent of the Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical and
Communicable Diseases in Hyderabad.
Two suspect cases in Karnataka, another state bordering Kerala, proved negative, said a medical official there.
All
the confirmed infections have involved people who caught the virus from
the first victim while he was being treated, said microbiologist G.
Arun Kumar.
"Hospital-acquired infections are a major path of
human to human transmission," added Kumar, who heads the Manipal Centre
for Virus Research that is testing virus samples.
The virus, spread through contact with bodily fluids, has a mortality rate of about 70 per cent.
A
global coalition to fight epidemics this week struck a $25-million deal
with two U.S. biotech groups to speed work on a vaccine.
A clutch
of dead bats discovered on the roof of a school in the northern state
of Himachal Pradesh triggered a brief scare, but there are no suspected
human infections, said health official Sanjay Sharma.
The finding of dead bats was not an unusual event, said one state forest official.
"This
is not unusual, but the department has sent bat samples for tests as a
precautionary measure," said the official, Ramesh Kang.
maybe with a tweak this could be a vaccine that could help this situation..
The Hendra vaccine
The Equivac® HeV vaccine became available to horse owners on 1 November 2012. It is an animal medicine, fully registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA.) The vaccine has been declared as safe and effective (Source: Qld Parliament Report into the Hendra Vaccine; October 2016.) The vaccine was initially released to high-risk areas in Australia and then to all horse owners soon afterwards.
The vaccine was the result of scientific and collaborative efforts between the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland USA, the Henry M Jackson for the Advancement of Military Medicine in Maryland USA, Pfizer Animal Health (now Zoetis), and CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory.
A timeline from 1994 to 2012 (the year the Hendra virus vaccine was released) has been developed to provide a summary of the research that has improved our knowledge of the deadly disease and contributed to the development of the vaccine. Download vaccine timeline
A review by Professor C Broder, Dr D Weir and Dr P Reid of the development of active and passive Hendra virus and Nipah virus animal vaccines has recently been published June 2016 in the internationally renowned journal Vaccine. Available online here.
The current scheduling protocol for healthy microchipped horses over four months of age is two initial vaccinations administered three to six weeks apart, followed by a booster at 6 months, followed by annual boosters, with all vaccinations recorded in a central database register. The vaccine should not be used in sick or immunocompromised animals. As no animal or human vaccines are regarded as 100% effective in all individuals, appropriate PPE, good personal hygiene and biosecurity practices should always be used when dealing with sick, vaccinated or unvaccinated horses.
The vaccine is only available to veterinarians. The reasoning behind this is based on the fact that because Hendra is such a lethal disease, the vaccine needs therefore to be handled, stored and administered by veterinary professionals, to ensure adherence to correct administration protocols in order to protect animal and human health, in line with the best international standards for preventive medical care. In addition, the record of horse vaccination is entered into a central database which can be used to used by veterinarians to check the horse's current vaccination status.
No vaccinated horses have ever contracted Hendra virus, whilst 20 laboratory confirmed HeV infections in horses have occurred in Queensland and NSW since vaccine release in November 2012.
The vaccine is the single most effective way of reducing the risk of Hendra virus infection and provides a work health and safety as well as a public health benefit and there is a high level of confidence in the vaccine held by veterinarians and by both Queensland and NSW State Governments and the Australian Government through the Animal Health Committee. This has been evidenced in outbreak situations since the vaccine became available.
From 2013-2015 there were seven horse deaths in NSW. Of the seven NSW properties affected there were 19 horses in contact with the HeV positive cases which had not been vaccinated. These 19 in contact with horses were then vaccinated and subsequently did not become infected. In an outbreak in Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands in July 2015 where one horse died from HeV, there were also six vaccinated horses and three unvaccinated horses on a property. These six vaccinated horses were regarded by QDAF’s Biosecurity Queensland as “low interest” horses and subsequently released early from quarantine in line with national Animal Health Committee policy.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
Let's hope so, Carbon. I think the research stands a better chance of being persued than in the past, because, for once, people actually seem to be paying attention*. It makes a nice change.
Quite a bit of research goes on in India these days as well. They seem to be rather good at it despite the country's poverty. Brains will out! - Upon which note, they seem to be taking a very proactive approach too**.
*Officials: Deadly Nipah virus has not spread in south India
Nipah Virus Outbreak: Death Toll Rises In India As Brain-Damaging Disease Spreads
As the rare virus
claims more lives in the Indian state of Kerala, concerns have been
raised about the potential of Nipah to become a global health emergency.
As health workers in India scramble to contain an ongoing outbreak of
Nipah, a rare and deadly virus with no known cure, concerns have been
raised about the disease’s potential to become the next global health
emergency.
At least 13 people in the Indian state of Kerala have died from the Nipah virus in the recent outbreak. On Monday, The Hindu newspaper reported
that a patient with Nipah-like symptoms was under observation in a
hospital in Goa, a state in western India. If diagnosed with the
disease, the patient — reportedly a 20-year-old man who’d traveled to Goa from Kerala — could be the first case of Nipah infection outside Kerala since the recent outbreak began earlier this month.
The Nipah virus, which was first identified in 1999 after an outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore,
is a disease thought to be transmitted by bats, pigs or other animals
to humans. The virus, which has a mortality rate of up to 70 percent,
can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, as well as severe
respiratory symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. There is currently no cure or vaccine for Nipah, though research into a possible vaccine is reportedly underway.
As health workers in India scramble to contain an ongoing outbreak of
Nipah, a rare and deadly virus with no known cure, concerns have been
raised about the disease’s potential to become the next global health
emergency.
At least 13 people in the Indian state of Kerala have died from the Nipah virus in the recent outbreak. On Monday, The Hindu newspaper reported
that a patient with Nipah-like symptoms was under observation in a
hospital in Goa, a state in western India. If diagnosed with the
disease, the patient — reportedly a 20-year-old man who’d traveled to Goa from Kerala — could be the first case of Nipah infection outside Kerala since the recent outbreak began earlier this month.
The Nipah virus, which was first identified in 1999 after an outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore,
is a disease thought to be transmitted by bats, pigs or other animals
to humans. The virus, which has a mortality rate of up to 70 percent,
can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, as well as severe
respiratory symptoms, according to the World Health Organization. There is currently no cure or vaccine for Nipah, though research into a possible vaccine is reportedly underway.
The Nipah virus was listed this year on the WHO’s priority list of emerging diseases that
could cause a global health emergency. Ebola and Zika were also on the
2018 list, which the WHO said identifies diseases that “pose a public
health risk because of their epidemic potential and for which there are
no, or insufficient, countermeasures.”
Stanford epidemiologist and Nipah expert Stephen Luby said recently that Nipah could conceivably become a “global pandemic threat” if there emerged a strain of the disease that could efficiently be transmitted from person to person.
“It is conceivable that there is currently a strain of Nipah virus
circulating among bats that, if it infected people, would efficiently
transmit from person to person,” Luby told the Stanford Report, though
noting that “so far, we have not identified such a strain.”
“Characteristics that might increase the risk of person-to-person
transmission would be a virus that has a stronger tendency to move to
the respiratory tract in high numbers,” he said. “It is conceivable that
the virus could acquire a mutation that would enhance this capacity.
One concern is that anytime a virus infects a human, it is in an
environment that selects for survival in that context.”
i just wonder how it got to India when the last cases were in Maylasia,so my guess is limited H2H ,and there has probably been more cases but put down to other viruses,IE......
The infection was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of encephalitis and respiratory illness among pig farmers and people with close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore,
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
KOZHIKODE: Another person died of Nipah virus in Kerala's Kozhikode taking the death toll to 14.
Madhusudhanan, 55, of Nellikode in Kozhikode district died tonight, according to health department sources.
He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, they said, adding that Madhusudhanan had tested positive of the virus.
The number of confirmed Nipah virus cases has risen to 17 with the National Institute of Virology, Pune, finding its presence in the blood sample of a 28-year-old person from Karassery, the sources said.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.🖖
Efforts are also underway to procure the cell line which
Australia used to develop the antibody. Once ICMR gets the cell line,
India can start manufacturing it.
Nipah Deaths In Kerala Rise To 16, Minister Warns Of Second Outbreak
The staff, including nurses and four doctors of the hospital where the
two patients died in the last two days, has been asked to go on leave
for a week as a precautionary measure
With nurses and doctors going on leave, this could create a situation where the lack of medical staff could cause other non-Nipah deaths as fewer people could be treated at hospitals.
It is this knock-on effect that worries me about pandemics, or disasters Such as estimates of over 4 000 deaths in Puerto Rico from the hurricane instead of the 82 'officially related' deaths. About 1/3rd of the deaths are attributed to people not getting medical care they needed.
ICMR may soon be able to neutralise the effects of Nipah virus using anti-body developed in Australia; death toll rises to 16
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) may soon be able to
neutralise the effects of the Nipah Virus which has killed 16 people in
Kerala.
The
ICMR had earlier reached out to the the University of Queensland,
Australia, which has developed an antibody to combat and 'neutralise'
the virus. The antibody was expected to reach India on Thursday.
"The Human Monoclonal Antibody (M 102.4) is a non-patented drug,
developed by Dr Christopher C Broder from Australia. The antibody is
still referred by a number and not a name as clinical trials are yet to
be completed. This is an antibody and not a vaccine, which can
neutralise the effects of the Nipah Virus," says The News Minute.
The antibody has not been tested on humans so far.
"We have asked them to give their monoclonal antibody for conducting a
test in India to find out if it can neutralise the Nipah virus in
humans. In Australia, it has only been tried in vitro (happening outside
the body in artificial conditions, often in a test tube) and has been
found to be effective. But it has not been tested on humans," Dr Balram
Bhargava, ICMR Director General, said while clarifying that it will not
lead to creation of vaccine
ICMR is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and
promotion of biomedical research. "We are preparing a dossier on what
will be methodology and what would be the regulatory process so that we
can fast track the process," he said.
"Efforts are also underway to procure the cell line which Australia
had used to develop the antibody. Once the ICMR gets the cell line,
India can start manufacturing the antibodies," The News Minute reported.
According to Dr Bhargava, Australia
is ready to share as it will help generate data on the efficacy of the
antibody. "It is not yet sure how much it will be effective," he said,
adding the infection caused by Nipah virus has a high mortality rate
(50-70 percent).
According to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, a drug
named ribavirin has been shown to be effective against the viruses in
vitro, but human investigations to date have been inconclusive and the
clinical usefulness of the drug remains uncertain.
The death toll due to outbreak of
Nipah virus rose to 16 in Kerala, with one more person succumbing to the
deadly virus in Kozhikode on Thursday morning, reports said.
Meanwhile, there are reports of dead bats being found on the premises
of a government school in Himachal Pradesh, samples of which have been
sent for testing to NIV, Pune, to ascertain the reason behind their
deaths
Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes
severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus
are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus. Currently,
there is no vaccine or drug for the treatment of the NIV infection. The
treatment for human cases is supportive and management treatment along
with intensive supportive care
The virus spreads through close contact with people's secretions and
excretions. Eating food which may have the droplets of saliva and urine
of infected bats can lead to the transmission of the virus. Earlier,
cases of Nipah virus were reported from Siliguri in 2001 and Nadia in
2007 in the eastern state of West Bengal and around 47 deaths were
reported.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You can vote in polls in this forum