Deadly Nipah Virus Breaks Out In China With Up To 75% Fatality Rate
LAGOS FEBRUARY 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-An outbreak of the Nipah virus in China, with a fatality rate of up to 75 percent, could potentially be the next big pandemic risk with giant pharmaceutical companies unprepared while currently focusing COVID-19, according to a report by the Access to Medicine Foundation.
“Nipah virus is another emerging infectious disease that causes great concern. Nipah could blow any moment. The next pandemic could be a drug-resistant infection,” The Guardian quoted Jayasree K Iyer, the executive director of the Netherlands-based Access to Medicine Foundation, as saying.
The virus is rare and spread by fruit bats, which can cause flu-like symptoms and brain damage. It can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, according to the World Health Organization. The usual treatment is supportive care.
An outbreak of the Nipah virus in India’s southern state Kerala in 2018 claimed 17 lives. At the time, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates temporarily banned frozen and processed fruit and vegetable imports from Kerala as a result of the outbreak there.
At the time, health officials believed that Nipah outbreaks in Bangladesh and India were perhaps associated with the drinking of date palm juice.
Alabariya
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