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A 42-year-old woman in Malappuram, Kerala, has tested positive for the Nipah virus.
Health authorities have started emergency surveillance to stop the virus from spreading.
The source of her infection is unknown, but officials are checking if it came from local fruits.
Seven high-risk contacts tested negative, which is a relief.
People in the area have been advised to wear masks in public.
A three-kilometre area around her home in Valanchery has restrictions in place.
Officials warn against eating fruits partially eaten by birds or bats, as fruit bats can carry Nipah.
Nipah Virus
It is a zoonotic virus (it is transmitted from animals to humans).
The organism that causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is an RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus
It first broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
The disease is named after a village in Malaysia, Sungai Nipah, where it was first detected.
It first appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep.
The disease spreads through fruit bats or ‘flying foxes,’ of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah and Hendra viruses.
The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
Symptoms: The human infection presents as an encephalitic syndrome marked by fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion, coma, and potentially death.
Prevention: Currently, there are no vaccines for both humans and animals.
Intensive supportive care is given to humans infected by the Nipah virus.
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