Someone with Nipah virus may experience respiratory symptoms including a cough, sore throat, aches and fatigue, and encephalitis, a swelling ...MenuLoadingStoppingtheNextOne | DiseaseTheothervirusthatworriesAsiaShareusingEmailShareonTwitterShareonFacebookShareonLinkedinBookmarkthisarticle(Imagecredit:GettyImages)ByHarrietConstable12thJanuary2021ThedeathrateforNipahvirusisupto75%andithasnovaccine.WhiletheworldfocusesonCovid-19,scientistsareworkinghardtoensureitdoesn'tcausethenextpandemic.IItwas3January2020,andSupapornWacharapluesadeewasstandingby,awaitingadelivery.WordhadspreadthattherewassomekindofrespiratorydiseaseaffectingpeopleinWuhan,China,andwiththeLunarNewYearapproaching,manyChinesetouristswereheadedtoneighbouringThailandtocelebrate.Cautiously,theThaigovernmentbeganscreeningpassengersarrivingfromWuhanattheairport,andafewselectlabs–includingWacharapluesadee's–werechosentoprocessthesamplestotrytodetecttheproblem.Wacharapluesadeeisanexpertvirushunter.SherunstheThaiRedCrossEmergingInfectiousDisease-HealthScienceCentreinBangkok.Overthepast10years,she'sbeenpartofPredict,aworldwideefforttodetectandstopdiseasesthatcanjumpfromnon-humananimalstohumans.Sheandherteamhavesampledmanyspecies.Buttheirmainfocushasbeenonbats,whichareknowntoharbourmanycoronaviruses.ThisstoryisthefirstpieceinStoppingtheNextOne–ourmultimediaserieslookingatwhichdiseasesaremostlikelytocausethenextglobalpandemic,andatthescientistsracingtokeepthatfromhappening.Findoutmoreabouttheseries,andreadtheotherstories,here.ReadaboutthenewmosquitobringingdiseasetoNorthAmerica.Sheandherteamwereabletounderstandthediseaseinjustamatterofdays,detectingthefirstcaseofCovid-19outsideofChina.Theyfoundthat–aswellasbeinganovelvirusthatdidn'toriginateinhumans–itwasmostcloselylinkedtocoronavirusestheyhadalreadyfoundinbats.Thankstotheearlyinformation,thegovernmentwasabletoactquicklytoquarantinepatientsandadvisecitizens.Despitebeingacountryofnearly70millionpeople,asof3January2021Thailandhadrecorded8,955casesand65deaths.Thenext