NIPAH VIRUS AWARENESS*

Nipah Virus is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes a severe disease in both animals and humans.

This virus was first identified in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998. At that time, it was primarily caused in pigs and through them got transferred to humans.

Nipah Virus infected as many as 265 people then, out of which 40 per cent were taken under intensive care due to the infection having spread severely.

As quoted by the WHO, the natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus.