
Kerala: Under the Insurgency of Nipah virus
The Nipah virus is a zoonotic pathogen from the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. The zoonotic cycle of NiV includes fruit bats also known as flying foxes of the family Pteropodidae (natural hosts) and pigs (intermediate hosts). Infected bats act as a carrier for NiV and it is communicable to both humans as well as animals and various cases also suggest its transmission via nosocominal mode. The majority of the patients infected with the virus show symptoms of central nervous system damage along with acute encephalitis with fever, dizziness, or vomiting and till now no formal treatment has been developed for the same.