Nipah Virus in Bangladesh

A virulent new strain of the Nipah virus has been identified in Bangladesh, and health authorities have issued warnings to people to be careful. Nipah Virus (NiV) was first isolated in Malaysia in the mid-1990s and has since been reported frequently in Bangladesh, India and other countries. It affects both humans and pigs. Human cases usually manifest as acute disease with high fever, headache, neck stiffness and disorientation leading to death within a few days. The virus has also been linked to severe injury or fatality in some pig herds who have come into contact with infected humans through contact with contaminated fruit bats; this occurs mainly during the wet season. In May 2018, Nipah Virus (NiV) cases were reported in Bangladesh. NiV infection is usually fatal and is transmitted via the consumption of infected fruit bats; however, cases have been linked to humans consuming food cooked from local fruit trees. Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a zoonotic disease caused by members of the family Phleboviridae, which are viruses from the order Mononegavirales. The virus is believed to have originated in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and been carried to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore on fruit bats, causing directly fatal infections in monkeys and pigs. Since 1999 it has spread throughout Asia with some human cases reported in other countries such as Thailand and India, leading to severe man-made famine in the Asian tea growing regions of Bangladesh