Brain-swelling Nipah bat virus kills boy, 12, amid fear highly contagious bug could trigger ‘Big One’ pandemic
A BRAIN-swelling virus spread by bats has killed a boy, 12, amid fears from scientists that the highly contagious bug could one day trigger a pandemic dubbed "The Big One".
Health officials are frantically investigating the case and trying to trace contacts of the child after he was fatally infected in Kerala, India.
Police have cordoned off an area of a two mile radius around the boy’s house - and a high alert has been declared in Malappuram and Kannur.
Indian authorities have however insisted there is no need for panic as they continue to investigate the case.
Kerala health minister Veena George said the infection was confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) on Saturday.
He was admitted to the hospital with a heavy fever last week before his condition then worsened over the weekend and he died.
Nipah is considered to be one of the world's most dangeorus viruses as it is 75 times more deadlier than Covid.
Experts have previously warned it is a prime candidate to potentially trigger a pandemic - with symptoms such as severe brain swelling, vomiting and seizures.
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Ms George told : "We had a meeting with the ministers from the district along with concerned officials about the Nipah virus. A team will be formed to handle the situation."
Health officials said no one from the boy’s family or other contacts has any symptoms of the Nipah virus.
Medics are now carrying out contact tracing for anyone who may have had contact with the boy over the last 12 days.
Strict quarantines for any suspected cases are also being introduced, and any samples are being sent to labs for urgent testing.
Nipah, a cousin of measles, is believed to orginate in fruit bats
It believed to be spread to humans who have consumed fruit, such as mangoes, that have been gnawed on by the creatures.
As of now, there is no need to panic, but we need to exercise caution
Veena George
Studies however have shown the virus can be highly contagious when transfering from person-to-person - especially if the victim has pre-existing breathing troubles and is elderly.
Ms George added: ";As of now, there is no need to panic, but we need to exercise caution."
She went on: "The patient was first taken to a private hospital, then to the medical college and from there again shifted to a private hospital. So we have traced all his contacts.
"The friends he played within his locality, his cousins and others, the health department had completed the identification and tracing of all these contacts."
Kerala suffered a Nipah outbreak in 2018 - in which 17 out of 18 of the known infected people died, according to the (WHO).
'PRIORITY PATHOGEN'
Nipah - which was first discovered in 1999 in Malaysia - has been tracked in outbreaks in in south and south-east Asia with a lethality rate of between 40 to 75%.
Covid-19's fatality rate is around one per cent, according to Imperial College, so a Nipah pandemic would kill many more people.
It has also been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of 16 priority pathogens for research and development due to its potential to trigger an epidemic.
And chillingly, Nipah is just one of 260 known viruses with epidemic potential.
CEPI, founded by Bill Gates, has also identified Nipah as one of the world's most dangerous diseases that could spark another pandemic after Covid.
The virus is such concern due to its long incubation period of up to 45 days, meaning people could spread for over a month before falling ill, and its ability to cross between species.
Nipah also has an exceptional high rate of mutation and there fears a strain more well adapted to human infections could spread rapidly across the the well interconnected countries of southern Asia.
As well as fruit bats, pigs have caught the disease by eating infected fruit and have been known to pass the disease to humans.
More than one million pigs believed to be infected with the Nipah virus were slaughtered in Malaysia to prevent them from transferring it to humans.
Dr Melanie Saville, director of vaccine research and development at CEPI, previously warned The Sun Online the world needs to be prepared for the next "big one".
Humans clashing with nature as populations expand and habitats get pushed back is considered to be a prime driver of new diseases.
And that is exactly what happened with Nipah when it first infected pig farmers in Malaysia.
Nipah is one of the viruses that could absolutely be the cause of a new pandemic
Dr Rebecca Dutch
Dr Rebecca Dutch, chair of the University of Kentucky's department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and a world a leader in the study of viruses, previously told us that although there are no current Nipah outbreaks in the world, they occur periodically and it is “extremely likely” we will see more.
She told us: “Nipah is one of the viruses that could absolutely be the cause of a new pandemic. Several things about Nipah are very concerning.
“Many other viruses in that family (like measles) transmit well between people, so there is concern that a Nipah variant with increased transmission could arise.
“The mortality rate for this virus is between 45% and 75% depending on the outbreak – so this is much higher than Covid-19. Nipah has been shown to transmit through food, as well as via contact with human or animal excretions.
“The incubation period for Nipah can be quite long, and it can be unclear if transmission can occur during this time.”
Dr Jonathan Epstein, vice president for science and outreach at the EcoHealth Alliance, explained how they are tracking the Nipah virus and are worried about its potential.
He told us: “We know very little about the genetic variety of Nipah-related viruses in bats, and what we don’t want to happen is for a strain to emerge that is more transmissible among people.
“So far, Nipah is spread among close contact with an infected person, particularly someone with respiratory illness through droplets, and we generally don’t see large chains of transmission.
“However, given enough opportunity to spread from bats to people, and among people, a strain could emerge that is better adapted to spreading among people.
“This is a zoonotic virus knocking on the door, and we have to really work now to understand where human cases are occurring, and try to reduce opportunities for a spillover, so that it never gets the chance to adapt to humans."
And Dr Saville warned we need to be ready for the next "big one", wherever it may come from.
She told The Sun Online: "Most crucially we shouldn't just be looking at Nipah.
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"We know that a future pandemic is inevitable, and there are many other emerging infectious diseases that are recognised as having pandemic potential.
"This includes known disease threats, like influenza, as well as new or as-of-yet identified pathogens, known as ‘Disease X’."
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