Nipah Virus, Dangerous and Little Known, Spreads in India

A rare, brain-damaging virus that experts consider a possible epidemic threat has broken call at the state of Kerala, India, for the primary time, infecting a minimum of 18 people and killing 17 of them, consistent with the planet Health Organization.

The Nipah virus naturally resides in fruit bats across South and Southeast Asia and may spread to humans through contact with the animals’ bodily fluids.

There is no vaccine and no cure.

The virus is listed by the W.H.O. as a high priority for research.

Current treatment measures are insufficient, consistent with Dr. Stuart Nichol, the top of the viral special pathogens branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There’s a market failure for shielding people from this,” said Dr. Steve Luby, an epidemiologist at Stanford University.

“It’s not like treating baldness or carcinoma, where wealthy people can pay for your product.

There’s no big customer here, no incentive until it escalates.”

If the virus were to spread outside India, it might likely appear first in Dubai, where many Indians work, consistent with an analysis of flight patterns conducted by the EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research group.

Among us airports, an infected traveler would likely arrive first at John F. Kennedy Airport.

 “The goal of mapping scenarios out isn't to make panic.

It’s to urge countries ready,” said Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of the alliance.

“This virus will recover and better at spreading — that’s what we’re up against. we'd like to be before the curve.”

The Nipah infection produces flulike symptoms, including fevers, body aches, and vomiting, which frequently progresses to acute respiratory syndrome and encephalitis, or brain inflammation.

Some survivors show persistent neurological effects, including personality changes.

The virus was first identified during an epidemic in 1998 among pig farmers in Malaysia, where it killed over 100 people and led to the slaughtering of quite a million pigs.

Cases now appear almost annually in Bangladesh.

The current outbreak likely began when people drew water from a bat-infested well,

according to India’s National Centre for Disease Control, which is leading the investigation.

The W.H.O. has not recommended any travel or trade restrictions for the region.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has announced a gift of up to $25 million to Profectus BioSciences and Emergent BioSolutions to develop a vaccine again the Nipah virus.

The project is predicted to require a minimum of five years.