Nipah Virus Emerges Several Times In India With A Death Rate Of 100 Percent

Ilustrasi. (National Cancer Institute/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Currently, Indonesia is being aware of the Nipah virus (NiV). This virus is thought to have originated in Malaysia around 1998-1999 and managed to spread to several countries, one of which is India.

In the early hours of May 17, 2018, a critical patient was brought to the Baby Memorial Hospital in the state of Kerala, India. Quoted by VOI from the official WHO website, the doctors at that time decided to send samples to the Manipal Karnataka virus research center because they were suspicious of the emergence of a new virus. From the research results, the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune confirmed the presence of NiV.

Then on May 19, 2018, the NiV outbreak was again reported from the Kozhikode district in Kerala, India. There were 17 deaths out of 18 confirmed cases as of 1 June 2018 with two districts affected, namely Kozhikode and Mallapuram.

India's National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) in Kerala responded to the outbreak. WHO is also providing Indian technical support to deal with the virus. But the WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions related to the virus.

The report of Nipah in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts is the third report of a NiV outbreak in India. The virus was first reported in February 2001, in Siliguri, India with a total of 65 cases and 45 people died with a death rate of 68 percent.

Then in April 2007, NiV again spread in Nadia, India. A total of five cases of infection and all of them died. This means that the death rate is 100 percent.

Nipah Virus in Indonesia

Although there have been no reports of the existence of the Nipah virus in Indonesia, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is still wary of the potential spread of this virus. NiV is greatest through direct contact with hogs and fruit bats.

"Indonesia must always be aware of the potential for Nipah virus transmission from pigs in Malaysia through fruit-eating bats", said the Ministry of Health's Director of Prevention and Control of Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases, Didik Budijanto, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, January 27.

Didik said that Indonesia must always be aware of the potential for transmission of the virus. From several studies, fruit bats apparently move regularly from Peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra Island, especially in North Sumatra, which is adjacent to Malaysia.

"So there is the possibility of spreading the Nipah virus through bats or through the illegal pig trade from Malaysia to Indonesia", said Didik again.