Nipah virus 'highly contagious', no 'specific treatment' available warns AIIMS expert

In India, the state of Kerala witnessed its first Nipah virus death. A 12-year-old in Kozhikode district died of the Nipah virus in Kerala. The experts have highlighted the need for detection of the source of transmission of the virus, according to ANI. Experts have warned that the Nipah virus is "highly contagious" after it gets transmitted from animals to humans and they "don't have specific treatment" for it. High morbidity and mortality rates have been witnessed in humans.

Fruit bats are the carriers of virus: Dr Biswas

Dr Ashutosh Biswas, Professor, Department of Medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has stated that the fruit bats are the carriers of the virus and "are the main cause of transmission", according to ANI. Furthermore, he noted that when a fruit bat flies to different places, the virus gets transmitted. "So, we have to understand that this is a very serious disease and is associated with high morbidity and mortality," he said.

"Fruit bats are the carriers of the virus, and they are the main cause of transmission. Fruit bats live in a specific geographical territory. If they fly to other places, naturally this virus can be transmitted. We don't have specific treatment for the disease," Dr Biswas told ANI.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Dr Ashutosh Biswas said that Nipah is a zoonotic disease. Furthermore, he noted that in the past, fruit bats have transmitted the virus to animals including goats, horses, pigs, cats etc. Biswas expressed concern that when the virus gets transmitted from animals to humans, it becomes "very dangerous" and is called "spillover". 

"In the past, we have seen and observed in India, that the fruit bats can also transmit it to our domestic animals like pigs, goats, cats, horses, and others. So, the jumping of this virus from animals to humans is very dangerous, and is what we call a spillover," Dr Biswas told ANI.

Dr Biswas stressed the importance of investigating the source of transmission saying, "Once this virus gets into human circulation, it starts to transmit from human-to-human and the transmission is so fast that it can spill over." He added that it is important to detect the source of the virus in the beginning. Furthermore, he noted that the transmission has been found most of the time from fruit bats. He speculated that eating the fallen fruit without washing can be one of the major causes of spillover. "Eating the fallen half-eaten fruits, that too without washing them, is a very dangerous habit", Dr Biswas told ANI. 

Dr Biswas said that in India, there have been two outbreaks of the Nipah virus before this one, "once in Kerala, once in West Bengal". "During the last outbreak, about 90 per cent of the infected persons died, according to ANI. Then in 2019, we had just 1 case of the virus, and now in 2021, we have got another case, a very fatal one. So, it is important to understand why it is happening," Biswas said. Furthermore, he noted that the problem of the Nipah virus is a "global one". He added that other countries like Bangladesh, have had repeated outbreaks of the virus.

IMAGE: PTI/RepresentativeImage

Inputs from ANI