Has No Vaccine And Cure, Nipah Virus Is Listed In WHO's 10 Infectious Diseases

Ilustrasi. (National Cancer Institute/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Nipah virus was first discovered in 1998 in Malaysia by the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, the virus has spread to several countries such as Thailand, Singapore, India, China, and Bangladesh.

Like Covid-19, the Nipah virus also transmits through bats, especially fruit bats and pigs.

"Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic disease that is transmitted from animals to humans, it can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person to person," the official WHO website wrote.

The Nipah virus infects a person with symptoms of respiratory problems and inflammation of the brain tissue. This will interfere with nerve work or encephalitis. Regarding the virus, WHO stated that there is no specific drug or vaccine.

The Executive Director of the Access to Medicine Foundation, Jayasree K. Iyer, said that the Nipah virus outbreak that occurred in China, with a death rate of up to 75 percent, has the potential to be the risk of the next major pandemic.

"The Nipah virus is a contagious disease that can explode at any time," explained Jayasree K. Iyer, as quoted by VOI from The Guardian.

WHO states that the Nipah virus is included in the list of ten infectious diseases with the greatest health risks. Including MERS and SARS, which are both triggered by the Coronavirus with a higher risk of death from COVID-19. The difference is that the two types of diseases are not very contagious.

Fruit bats are thought to be the natural host of the Nipah virus. The incubation period for the Nipah virus reaches 45 days. In that period, if the infected person is not aware of their condition, it has the potential to spread over a long period of time.

Nipah virus through bats can spread to various animals for human consumption. Apart from the human-to-human transmission of the virus, fruit contaminated with the Nipah virus from fruit bats can also be the cause. Bangladesh and India are two countries that have experienced the Nipah virus pandemic, allegedly triggered by date juice.

Fruit bats come out at night and perch on the trees of the date palms. The bat sucks the juice and leaves dirt afterward. Virus contamination can start with the distribution of the fruit consumed.