What is Nipah virus? What to know about the disease as India faces outbreak
Global News
Nipah virus has a death rate ranging from 45 to 75 per cent, and there is no vaccine or medical treatment available for animals or humans.
An outbreak of the Nipah virus in the Indian state of West Bengal is raising concern in parts of Asia, leading some airports to implement precautionary health screenings.
So far, five confirmed infections, including among doctors and nurses, have led to a quarantine of 100 people and the hospitalization of others at various medical facilities in Kolkata, according to the Times of India.
Three Thai airports that receive flights from West Bengal have started screening passengers on arrival. Nepal has also begun screening travellers at the Kathmandu airport and land border crossings with India, the BBC reported.
India’s health ministry says 196 people known to have been in contact with the infected individuals have tested negative, according to the outlet.
Nipah virus, which can be deadly, is transmitted through several pathways, including from animals to humans — primarily through fruit bats — via contaminated food, or directly between humans and can cause anything from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Human‑to‑human transmission occurs through close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
Although the Nipah virus has caused only a few known outbreaks in Asia, it infects a wide range of animals and causes severe disease and death in people, making it a public health concern, according to the WHO.
Infected people generally develop flu-like symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and a sore throat.
Three cancer types — lung, stomach and cervical cancer — accounted for nearly half of all preventable cancer cases in both men and women globally, a new study has found.
The former CEO of the IWK Health Centre has been sentenced to nine months in jail for defrauding the children's hospital during her time in charge.
Consuming raw dairy products can expose people to a variety of illnesses including avian influenza, brucella, tuberculosis, Salmonella, and E. coli, among other pathogens.
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
Perhaps one of the best embodiments of Canadians' ability to embrace winter, rather than hide from it, pops up every December at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.
Nipah virus has a death rate ranging from 45 to 75 per cent, and there is no vaccine or medical treatment available for animals or humans.