Nipah Virus: Symptoms, precautions, facts, cure and more details here

The recent outbreak of Nipah Virus in Kerala is worrisome. Here is a guide informing you about the disease, its symptoms and prevention.

Nipah falls under the category of Zoonotic diseases like Ebola, HIV, mad cow disease and rabies, which can spread from animals to humans. 

Nipah was added to the list of Zonotic diseases in 1998-99 when there was an outbreak of an unknown illness in the Malaysian village of Sungai Nipah. Hence, the disease “Nipah” got its name from the village it first broke into.

The virus, which causes the disease, is commonly found in various species of fruit bats, considered carriers of the disease.

Because of the widespread dispersion of the bat species Pteropodidae across the globe, Nipah outbreaks have been observed in countries including Australia, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Thailand, Iran, Madagascar and most of the Africa.