Nipah virus threatens to become a full-blown crisis; the time to act is now
Human life is vulnerable to not only foreseeable, major threats, such as an asteroid impact or nuclear war, but even to innocuous, invisible pathogens that have the potential to wipe off the entire human race from the face of the earth. If ever a bigger proof was needed, there was the cataclysmic brush with the Coronavirus-19 barely three years ago. The world was forced down on its knees and there was such a dearth of necessary material for the victims' last rites that mass cremations had to be resorted to. By the grace of God, nothing as severe or wide-prevalent yet, but we are in for another shock. Another deadly virus, Nipah, is posing a threat to human life, albeit on a smaller scale. The Nipah virus is currently spreading in Kerala at an alarming rate. It has already claimed five lives and hundreds of other people are showing its symptoms. The virus, a deadly zoonotic pathogen, has emerged as a significant public health concern in recent years. Authorities have been forced to shut educational institutions in Kerala and the entire country is on high alert. The virus is primarily transmitted from animals to humans, and occasionally from humans to humans, making it a challenging pathogen to control. Nipah virus’ natural reservoirs are fruit bats (sounds familiar?). These bats shed the virus in their saliva, urine and faeces, contaminating fruits and other surfaces which come in contact with their excreta.
When humans consume these contaminated fruits or get in close contact with the infected animals, they expose themselves to contracting the virus.Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with the body fluids of infected individuals, posing a significant risk in healthcare settings. Climate change and urbanisation may have contributed to the geographical spread of the virus as it alters the distribution of fruit bat populations. In a 2018 outbreak in India, it swiftly snuffed out 21 lives. First identified in Malaysia in 1999, Nipah virus outbreaks have since been reported in several countries, including India, Philippines and Bangladesh. There are stark similarities between the Covid-19 and Nipah viruses: Nipah is highly fatal with a 40-70 per cent fatality rate, has no cure and spreads fast. The good news is that the monoclonal antibody has been delivered in Kozhikode by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which can help in treating those infected. The antiviral is the only option available to the government as of now, though its efficacy has not been clinically proven. In this scenario, the only sensible and practical approach is containment and surveillance while creating public awareness without creating panic. The search for a vaccine is ongoing; an effective vaccine could protect individuals at high risks of exposure, such as healthcare workers and people living in outbreak-prone regions. We must fight and defeat the Nipah virus much the same way as we did the Coronavirus.