Enhancing Preparation for Large Nipah Outbreaks Beyond Bangladesh: Preventing a Tragedy like Ebola in West Africa

Nipah virus, within the paramyxoviridae family (Wang et al., 2001), was first identified in humans with encephalitis in the 1998-1999 outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore involving at least 276 cases and 106 deaths (Chua et al., 2000). The epidemiologic link was from fruit bats infecting pigs that then served as an amplifier host and infected humans through close contact. Person-to-person transmission was rarely documented, and no further human cases have been reported from either country. Detailed analyses of the environmental changes that triggered this outbreak connecting wildlife (bats), livestock (pigs) and humans was reported (Pulliam et al., 2012, Daszak et al., 2013).
Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Perspective Source Type: research