Rare but Deadly Nipah Virus Breaks Out in India

The bat-borne virus has infected six people and killed two of them

An outbreak of Nipah, the fourth to hit the southern Indian state of Keral in five years, has prompted aggressive preventive effort including school and business closures and widespread testing.

Also known as Nipah Virus encephalitis, the pathogen was first isolated and described in 1999. The name is derived from the village in Malaysia that claimed its first victim.

Nipah virus has a fatality rate of between 40% and 75% depending on the strain, according to epidemiologists. Though the outbreaks tend to be small, some worry that increased spread among people could make it more contagious. 

The main symptoms of Nipah are fever, vomiting, respiratory distress and brain inflammation. It is carried mainly by fruit bats but can also infect domestic animals and people. It spreads through contact with bodily fluids from infected animals or humans. There are no approved vaccines or treatments. 

To learn more about Nipah, check out the entire story in Nature's News and Comment section.