Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus, which is a virus that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Evidence ...WhatisNipahVirus?DownloadPDFCopyByAngelaBetsaidaB.Laguipo,BSNReviewedbyChloeBennett,B.Sc.NipahvirusisthecausativeagentoftheNipahvirusinfection,anemergingzoonoticdiseasefirstreportedafteranoutbreakinMalaysiain1998.Nipahvirus,newlyemergingzoonoticinfectionwithacuterespiratorysyndromeandsevereencephalitis,3Dillustration.ImageCredit:KaterynaKon/ShutterstockNipahVirusOverviewNipahvirus(NiV)isazoonoticvirus,whichisavirusthatcanbetransmittedfromanimalstohumans.Evidencehasshownthatfruitbatsandpigshosttheviruswhichcanleadtoseriousillnessinbothanimalsandhumans.ThoughthefirstoutbreakoccurredinKampungSungaiNipah,Malaysia,allsucceedingoutbreakswerereportedinBangladesh,India,andSingapore.Theinfectionishighlydangerousasitattacksthebrainandhasthepotentialtosendthoseinfectedintoacomawithinjust24hours.InMay2018,anNipahvirusoutbreakwasreportedinIndia,whichrapidlyspreadamongstthepopulationandclaimedthelivesof17people,with18confirmedcases.Deathcanoccurinupto80%ofcases,makingitaverydeadlyvirus.ModeofTransmissionHumanscandevelopNipahvirusiftheycomeintocontactwiththeexcrementofinfectedanimals.Originally,pigswerethoughttobetheprimaryhostofNiV,however,fruitbatswerelaterfoundto harborthevirus.InMalaysiaandSingapore,theoutbreaksreportedwerecausedbythetransmissionofthevirusfrombatstopigs,withsubsequenttransmissionoccurringbetweenpigsandhumans.RelatedStoriesModernatodevelopthreenewmRNA-basedvaccinesagainstHIV,influenza,andtheNipahvirusHowever,therecentoutbreakin2018,hasbeenlinkedtotheconsumptionofmangoeswhichhadbeenbittenbyinfectedpigs.ItwasalsoreportedthatsomeindividualswereinfectedduetoingestingrawdatepalmthathadbeencontaminatedwithbatsalivacontainingNiV.TheoutbreaksinBangladeshandIndiahavecasesofperson-to-persontransmission.Thesetransmissionswereseentooccurduetodirectcontactwithbodilyfluidsofpatientswiththevirus.Signs,SymptomsandComplicationsTheincubationperiodoftheNipahvirusran