Posted on 04/06/2008 9:33:59 AM PDT by blam
New And Deadly Viruses Passed Through Sweet Food And Domestic Animals
ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2008) Nipah virus is a new and deadly brain and lung disease that emerged from Singapore and Malaysia ten years ago. It is now spreading into rural India and Bangladesh killing up to three-quarters of the people who become infected in some outbreaks, scientists heard April 3, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting.
"People are catching this disease by drinking date palm juice or probably by eating fruit contaminated by the virus, or through contact with infected animals. We have seen nine outbreaks in Bangladesh since 2001, which killed 40-100% of the people who were infected", says Dr Jahangir Hossain, a scientist working in the Dhaka Hospital at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).
Fruit bats are a natural reservoir of Nipah virus, and the first outbreaks in Singapore and Malaysia started when pigs on farms ate fruit which had been bitten by infected bats and dropped near their pens. The pigs developed coughs and breathing difficulties, and an epidemic spread across the Asian peninsula due to the pig trade. Pig farmers and abattoir workers became infected from sick pigs.
"Three outbreaks in Bangladesh were caused when people ate fresh date palm sap, a local sweet delicacy, which had been contaminated by bats." says Dr Jahangir Hossain. "Because both people and animals in Bangladesh often eat fresh date palm sap and fruits which have been bitten by bats, contaminated food and domestic animals form an important transmission pathway for Nipah virus to infect people."
The researchers have been trying to discover the way Nipah virus outbreaks start and to identify the factors which could help prevent virus transmission in the future. The large outbreak in pigs in Malaysia and Singapore caused the biggest outbreak in humans so far. In one outbreak in Bangladesh, people became infected after contact with sick cows, and close contact with pig herds was associated with virus transmission in another outbreak.
"We are working with local date palm sap collectors to learn about traditional practices that prevent bats from getting at and contaminating the sap", says Dr Jahangir Hossain. "If we can identify the factors that allow the virus to be passed from bats to humans so frequently, we might be able to help intervene and interfere with the transmission pathways. Current efforts should focus on restricting the consumption of fruit bitten by bats, restricting human contact with sick animals, and protecting date palm sap from contamination by bat secretions."
Adapted from materials provided by Society for General Microbiology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
ROFLMTO...you are just too funny.
I don't think the tree itself gets contaminated, just the date palm sap. Picture how we collect maple syrup by tapping the tree and having the maple sap collect into a little bucket.
If the Indians do the same to get date palm sap, and you have bats going into the sap collection buckets to drink the sap, they would contaminate the batch
9000+500+200+10+5=9715
9715?
Anticipating the August 1 spraying of San Francisco. If you think I'm joking, I'm not.
It’s not a date.
Rocky I
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky...
I had a pharmacist bud years ago who thought it would be best if three forths the population of the planet could be eliminated. He wanted all cars banned due to polution.
The guy was a very nice guy, but his just floored me then and still does to this day. We’re not always talking about people who haven’t been exposed to an education either.
Ah.
;-)
...spellcheck is your friend.
Cheers!
Someone ought to send this entire article to Dave Barry...
Cheers!
*******************
LOL!
No. Actually he was a very mild mannered guy. To meet him and talk to him you’d think he was a really level headed individual, until these matters would come up.
Nipah virus
Overview
Nipah virus is a newly recognized zoonotic virus. The virus was ‘discovered’ in 1999. It has caused disease in animals and in humans, through contact with infectious animals. The virus is named after the location where it was first detected in Malaysia. Nipah is closely related to another newly recognized zoonotic virus (1994), called Hendra virus, named after the town where it first appeared in Australia. Both Nipah and Hendra are members of the virus family Paramyxoviridae. Although members of this group of viruses have only caused a few focal outbreaks, the biologic property of these viruses to infect a wide range of hosts and to produce a disease causing significant mortality in humans has made this emerging viral infection a public heath concern.
Natural Host
It is currently believed that certain species of fruit bats are the natural hosts of both Nipah and Hendra viruses. They are distributed across an area encompassing northern, eastern and south-eastern areas of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and some of the Pacific Islands. The bats appear to be susceptible to infection with these viruses, but do not themselves become ill. It is not known how the virus is transmitted from bats to animals.
Transmission
The mode of transmission from animal to animal, and from animal to human is uncertain, but appears to require close contact with contaminated tissue or body fluids from infected animals. Nipah antibodies have been detected in pigs, other domestic and wild animals. The role of species other than pigs in transmitting infection to other animals has not yet been determined.
It is unlikely that Nipah virus is easily transmitted to man, although previous outbreak reports suggest that Nipah virus is transmitted from animals to humans more readily than Hendra virus. Despite frequent contact between fruit bats and humans there is no serological evidence of human infection among bat carers. Pigs were the apparent source of infection among most human cases in the Malaysian outbreak of Nipah, but other sources, such as infected dogs and cats, cannot be excluded. Human-to-human transmission of Nipah virus has not been reported.
Clinical features
The incubation period is between 4 and 18 days. In many cases the infection is mild or inapparent (sub-clinical). In symptomatic cases, the onset is usually with “influenza-like” symptoms, with high fever and muscle pains (myalgia). The disease may progress to inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) with drowsiness, disorientation, convulsions and coma. Fifty percent of clinically apparent cases die.
Treatment
No drug therapies have yet been proven to be effective in treating Nipah infection. Treatment relies on providing intensive supportive care. There is some evidence that early treatment with the antiviral drug, ribavirin, can reduce both the duration of feverish illness and the severity of disease. However, the efficacy of this treatment in curing disease or improving survival is still uncertain.
Protection of health care professionals
The risk of transmission of Nipah virus from sick animals to humans is thought to be low, and transmission from person-to-person has not yet been documented, even in the context of a large outbreak. Therefore, the risk of transmission of Nipah virus to health care workers is thought to be low. However, transmission without percutaneous exposure (through a break in the skin barrier) is theoretically possible, as respiratory secretions contain the virus. This is why it has been categorized as a biohazardous agent that should be managed in a high-level biosecurity laboratory. It is recommended that close contact with body fluids and infected tissues be avoided if Nipah infection is suspected.
Outbreaks of Nipah and Hendra viruses
From September 1998 - April 1999, there was a large outbreak of encephalitis in Malaysia. During the investigation of this outbreak, Nipah virus, a previously unrecognized virus, was identified as the causal agent. A total of 265 people were infected, of whom 105 died. Ninety-three percent of cases had occupational exposure to pigs. An associated outbreak among abattoir workers in Singapore during March 1999 led to 11 cases, with 1 death. These workers had been handling pigs that had been imported from the outbreak areas in Malaysia.
There have been 3 recognized outbreaks of Hendra virus in Australia in 1994, 1995 and1999. Three human cases, leading to 2 deaths were recorded in the 1994 and 1995 outbreaks. In 1995 a horse was infected, with associated human cases. The precise mode of virus transmission to the three Australian patients is not fully understood. All 3 individuals appear to have acquired their infection as a result of close contact with horses which were ill and later died.
For more information contact:
WHO Media centre
Telephone: +41 22 791 2222
E-mail: mediainquiries@who.int
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.