The Nipah virus disease outbreak in 1998 was successfully ... of a more deadly Disease X to come in 2021 was raised in my previous column. ... An outbreak (11 cases, one death) was also reported in Singapore among ...×ViewRememberingtheNipahvirusoutbreakByDrMILTONLUMTheDoctorSaysTuesday,02Feb20211:00PMMYTRelatedNewsVietnam14hagoVietnamvaccinatesCovid-19front-linerswithitsfirstdosesWorld17hagoSouthKoreafindsnolinkfoundbetweendeathsandcoronavirusvaccineAseanPlusNews14hagoS.KoreafindsnolinkfoundbetweendeathsandcoronavirusvaccineWhilepigswerethemainsourceofinfectioninthefirstNipahoutbreakinMalaysia,fruitbatsalsoserveasahostforthevirusandhavebeenthesourceofmorerecentcases.—Photos:FilepicInDecember2015,theWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)cameoutwithalistofemergingdiseaseslikelytocausesevereoutbreaksinthenearfuture,andforwhichfewornomedicalcountermeasuresexist.ThelistincludedCrimeanCongohaemorrhagicfever,Ebolavirusdisease,Marburgvirusdisease,Lassafever,MERS(MiddleEasternrespiratorysyndrome),SARS(severeacuterespiratorysyndrome),Nipahvirus(NiV)disease,RiftValleyfeverandDiseaseX.DiseaseX“representedtheknowledgethataseriousinternationalepidemiccouldbecausedbyapathogencurrentlyunknowntocausehumandisease”.ThequestionofwhetherCovid-19isDiseaseXitselfortheprecursorofamoredeadlyDiseaseXtocomein2021wasraisedinmypreviouscolumn.RecentreportsoftheHealthMinistry’sstretchedresourcesincontainingCovid-19ledtoafeelingofdéjàvuasthesituationissimilartotheNiVoutbreakinMalaysiaandthequestionofwhetherNipahcouldbeDiseaseX.Malaysiawasthefirstcountryintheworldtoencounterthevirusin1998.Itresultedintheneardecimationofourpig-rearingindustry,whichwasthenthelargestinAsean,withaboutamillionpigsculled.Manyofthehumanswhosurvivedtheinfectionhavebeenleftwithresidualcomplications.InfectionNiVcausesseverediseaseinanimalsandcanspreadfromanimalstohumans.Thisisnotaforestfire,butsmokefromtheburningofculledpigsthatwereinfectedbytheNipahvirusatGertakSanggul,Penang,in2011.Itcanalsobespreadthroughcontaminatedfoodordirectly