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Nipah Virus
"Nipah virus" spreads from animals and birds to humans. It is airborne and spreads very quickly.
When I first learned about the origin and spread of
Nipah virus, I thanked God for his mercy on us.
Because, when we were young, we picked hundreds of
fruits from trees with our own hands and ate them without washing them. Our
children may have done the same. Where can we be careful when we ourselves did
not know that such a life-threatening virus was lurking around us?
If we want a healthy life, we have to know and be
careful about all life-threatening diseases.
The collected data shows that this disease was first
detected in Malaysia and Singapore in 1999. It was named after a village in
Malaysia called Sungai Nipah. Then, until 2013, 582 people were infected and
54% of them died.
Maybe it was there before and people died from it, but
it did not come under the scope of human detection.
The critical stage of the disease is brain infection.
The probability of death is 75%. At that time, millions of pigs were killed to
prevent the disease from spreading.
The diagnosis method is based on symptoms and has to
be confirmed by laboratory tests.
The way to prevent it is to stay away from bats, sick
pigs and infected people.
The research article shows that in Bangladesh, Nipah
virus is usually spread by bats. This virus causes encephalitis and respiratory
diseases in humans.
Usually, symptoms of the disease appear within 4 to 14
days of infection. However, in some cases, it can take up to 45 days for
symptoms to appear.
Infection with the Nipah virus causes influenza-like
symptoms such as fever, headache, dizziness, muscle aches, vomiting, sore
throat, shortness of breath, pneumonia, seizures, and unconsciousness.
How it spreads in our region –
In our region, during winter, date palm trees are cut
down and the sap is collected in pots. Bats also drink the sap from that pot at
night. At this time, the Nipah virus from the bat's saliva gets into the sap of
the pot. The virus also mixes with the date palm sap through the bat's urine,
and the fruits eaten by bats on the tree may also contain the Nipah virus. The
virus also gets into the human body by eating that sap and fruit. Then the
Nipah virus spreads from the infected patient to a healthy person.
Treatment – The doctor said that there is no specific treatment for the Nipah virus, treatment is through supportive treatment. In this case, symptom-based treatment is given.
Prevention – There is no vaccine to prevent the Nipah
virus. One should refrain from eating date palm sap freshly taken from the tree
and fruits eaten by bats. Any fruit should be washed thoroughly and peeled
before eating. If the date palm sap is boiled, the Nipah virus dies.
One should be careful if one comes in contact with an
infected patient. Before eating fruits, wash them thoroughly. After extracting
date juice, wash your hands thoroughly and do not drink date juice without
boiling it.
Be aware - to lead a healthy life.
