Nipahvirus: An emerging threat

Authors :

Arathi Rajan, Anuja S Nair, Vinod Soman Pillai, Mohanan Valiya Veettil

 Abstract:

Emerging viral infections offer significant threats to humans and animals globally. Nipah viral (NiV) infection
is one such potentially fatal- zoonotic disease transmitted between animals and humans. This virus is reported
to cause febrile encephalitis and acute respiratory illness in humans with an estimated mortality rate ranging
between 40-90 %. NiV has a wide spectrum host range and has resulted in massive livestock loss and economic
consequences over the past 24 years since its discovery in 1998.NiV is identified as a priority disease by WHO
and numerous researches are being carried out in this area, however, the treatment for NiV in humans is still
limited to supportive care. Thus, we are in need of better therapeutic strategies and prophylactic measures to
restrict NiV globally. Passive immunotherapy with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, nucleotide derivatives
as antivirals, RNA dependent RNA polymerase inhibitors are the recent and promising research
underway. The current review points to the course of NiV infection, transmission, and pathogenesis in humans
with a special focus on the recent therapeutic interventions and prophylactic approaches against NiV.