Nipah virus
GS PAPER II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Context: A cross-sectional survey by Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute of Virology to study the prevalence of Nipah virus (NiV) in bats of India has picked up samples with the presence of antibodies against the Nipah virus in some bat species from a cave in Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Satara district, Maharashtra.
Need
- India has experienced four episodes of NiV outbreaks with CFR ranging from 65% to 100%. The first evidence of NiV infection was reported in Siliguri district, West Bengal in 2001, followed by Nadia district in West Bengal in 2007. A third outbreak occurred in Kozhikode district of Kerala state in 2018 with 18 case fatalities, followed by another outbreak in the same state in 2019 .
- A study in 2018 has identified many South East Asian countries including Indian states as potential hotspots for the NiV disease.
- NiV is on the top-10 priority list pathogens identified by the World Health Organization.
About NiV:
- Pteropus medius bats, which are large fruit-eating bats, are the incriminated reservoir for NiV in India as both NiV RNA and antibodies were detected in the samples of these bats collected during previous NiV outbreaks.
- Studies on other species of bats as potential NiV reservoirs in India are very limited.
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