CHANDIGARH: The
Haryana health department has issued an advisory on
Nipah virus (NiV) in the wake of an outbreak in
Kerala. A spokesperson of the department said NiV was a highly pathogenic virus and large fruit bats were natural reservoir for it. “Presumably, pig may become infected after consumption of partially bat-eaten fruits that dropped in pigsty,” he said.
The spokesperson said seasonality was strongly implicated in NiV outbreaks in Bangladesh and India. “All of the outbreaks occurred during winter to spring between December to May and the incubation period varies from 6-21 days,” he said.
While referring to the mode of transmission, he said two routes of transmission of Nipah virus had been identified from its natural reservoir to humans - drinking of raw date palm sap contaminated with NiV and close physical contact with infected patients. The person-to person transmission might occur from close physical contact, especially by contact with body fluids, he added.
Representative image