Explained | Nipah: A “highly pathogenic paramyxovirus” and handling it requires the highest grade facilities

The natural reservoir for the virus are large fruit bats of Pteropus genus. From here, it may pass on to pigs who may be infected after eating fruits that are bitten on by infected bats.

Kerala has reported aof infection by the Nipah virus in the northern district of Kozhikode bringing back memories of the chaos in when the same district reported 18 confirmed cases of which there were 17 laboratory-confirmed deaths. It’s the high mortality associated with the virus that triggered panic across the State and the country and when it was controlled the State’s healthcare surveillance system came in for praise though, as it turned out, it was only a test-run for the pandemic of 2020. The human Nipah virus, as it is called, is classified as an “emerging zoonotic disease”, meaning that it can transfer to people after being incubated in other species. It was first recognised in a large outbreak of 276 cases in Malaysia and Singapore from September 1998-1999.