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Nipah virus infection (NiV) is an infection, the patients, doctors, hospitals, and researchers equally worried about. It is responsible for spreading severe disease in animals as well as humans. It is claimed that natural host of the virus is fruit bats of a particular genre, which is hard to identify by common men.
The symptoms of the disease are akin to any viral infection. These include fever, cough, breathlessness and frequent headaches. So if you feel any of these symptoms, then consult your physician immediately.
NiV was first caught at an outbreak of the ailment in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia long ago, i.e. in the year 1998, to be precise. In this case, pigs were identified as the hosts to the infection. However, in later outbreaks, pigs were not found to be the intermediate hosts. In Bangladesh, humans were found to be infected with NiV as a result of consuming a variety of date palm that had been contaminated by infected fruit bats. Human-to-human transmission has also been documented, including in a hospital setting in India recently.
But with the lots of multiple WhatsApp and other social media platforms forwarded messages spreading the misinformation, it is getting even more difficult to separate fact from fiction.
We have tried to find out segregate some hardcore facts from the reams of fiction. The first rule to follow does not panic. If you are not in a Nipah identified area, then it’s 100 per cent safe to consume fresh fruits of various kind, but people in the infection-prone or infected areas must exercise caution and avoid consumption of fruits for a few days
Next caution is to avoid consuming fruits if you are living in a nearby area. Bats can travel long distances. Hence, there’s a chance that fruits might get infected with the virus. In the circumstances, it’s better to avoid consuming any fruits altogether for some days from such areas. Pigs are also found to be carriers of Nipah, so, it is advised to avoid consuming their meat for some days too.
