THE NIPAH CAMPAIGN
NO MORE NIPAH CAMPAIGN
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Premed helps track where various viruses and diseases are located.
NIPAH VIRUS
The NiV (Nipah virus) was discovered in 1999.
-The Nipah virus outbreak has mainly occurred in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Singapore
- It is a zoonotic virus because it can spread between people and animals. It is carried by fruit eating bats that are common throughout Asia, Australia and the South Pacific.
- The Nipah virus can be contracted from infected pigs, humans and fruit bats. NiV can also spread through contact with feces, excrement, bodily fluids or their contaminated tissues. In addition, NiV can spread through food products that have been contaminated by the bodily fluids of the infected animals. This includes the consumption of raw date palm sap, which is a drink that can be found in some parts of Asia.
-The virus can spread through breathing in respiratory droplets from infected people. It can also be contracted from direct skin contact and insect bites.
- Nipah caused a severe outbreak in Bangladesh in 2004. In Bangladesh, three quarters of the people infected had died.
-It is a very serious disease. They mortality rate is averaged between 40% all the way to 75%. The fatality rates depend on the local capabilities.
-There are currently no licensed treatments
NIPAH SYMPTOMS
Nipah symptoms can vary between mild and severe symptoms.
-The incubation period may vary between 4-14 days.
-The first symptoms initially include: fever, headaches, cough, trouble breathing, vomiting and sore throat.
-The NiV virus is constantly reproducing.
-The more severe symptoms may include: brain swelling (which can lead to disorientation, tiredness and severe mental confusion), a coma, seizures.
-There are many negative chronic impacts on Nipah survivor patients. The long term effects may include: a change in personality and constant convulsions.
-Infections and death have been seen months or sometimes years after exposure.
HOW DOES NIPAH AFFECT BATS?
-The bats are the natural reservoir to NiV.Â
-Bats do not experience any symptoms like humans do. The virus just keeps reproducing itself within the bats and spread between the bats.Â
-The virus initially spread from bats to humans through raw date palm sap because the bats may drink the juice of the sap and contaminate it with their urine or saliva. If a human drinks the sap that was contaminated, they may become infected and transmit the virus to others.Â
- A way they helped control the outbreak in Bangladesh was monitoring the Nipah virus in bat populations.
