Nipah Virus: Emerging Infections and Public Health Challenges

Abstract

A zoonosis known as the Nipah virus (NiV) infection is brought on by a Henipavirus from the Paramyxoviridae family. The disease's progression can be fatal and highly serious. Fruit bats, commonly referred to as megabats, of the Pteropodidae family, particularly those of the Pteropus genus, are NiV's natural hosts. Pigs' roles as intermediate hosts during the outbreaks from Malaysia and Singapore were confirmed. The sickness spread from bats to pigs, who then infected humans. NiV infection has been linked to severe encephalitis in cases of neurological diseases. In contrast to the role of pigs in the Malaysian NiV outbreak, the first NiV outbreak in India occurred in the Siliguri area of West Bengal in 2001. There, direct transmission of the NiV virus from bats to humans and from humans to humans was recorded. Infected areas can benefit from routine surveillance studies to identify early illness indicators and aid in the containment of these outbreaks. Supportive care and prevention are the mainstays of management at the moment because there are no viable medicines.