Virus With 75% Death Rate Breaks Out In India
A particularly deadly virus that reportedly served as an inspiration for the 2011 thriller “Contagion” is currently spreading through India, according to officials in the United Kingdom.
Recent reports indicate that as many as three-fourths of those who contract the Nipah virus die as a result.
Thus far in the most recent outbreak, two patients in Kerala have already died from the infection and five others tested positive. Roughly 800 individuals have been tested in all.
A number of the confirmed cases involve individuals in the same family, according to University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute Professor Miles Carroll.
Although a spokesperson for the U.K. Health Security Agency confirmed that its “emerging infections and zoonoses team continue to monitor the Nipah outbreak closely through [their] epidemic intelligence processes,” the statement downplayed the risk that the virus will spread globally.
“Nipah virus has not been detected in the UK and the risk of importation into the UK is very low,” the source added.
The virus, which was first identified in 1999 when it was transmitted among pig farmers in Malaysia, has never been reported in either the U.K. or U.S. It is believed to spread via fruit bats to humans who touch bodily fluids left behind on fruit.
From there, it can be transmitted from human to human through coughs or sneezes.
Officials in India are working to stop the spread by curtailing public transportation in the area where the outbreak occurred. Testing has already begun in nearby regions of the country.
Although scientists have known about the virus for nearly a quarter of a century, there is no vaccine yet available for the Nipah virus. Health care providers can only attempt to treat the symptoms in hopes that a patient’s immune system will be able to eradicate the infection.
Carroll indicated that researchers hope to create a vaccine trial using the same basic technology that led to the development of the COVID-19 shot.
“Scientists here in Oxford are working with local partners in endemic countries to find out more about Nipah so we can ensure the world is better protected from outbreaks of this kind,” he said.
