Nipah outbreaks in Bangladesh: age and breathing difficulties of infected patients increase the risk of disease spread

Nipah virus, a bat-borne paramyxovirus found throughout South and South East Asia, has been identified by WHO as an emerging infectious disease that may cause severe epidemics in the near future. Infections in humans result in severe respiratory and neurological disease with a high case fatality. With no available treatment or vaccine, the control of Nipah virus outbreaks must rely on a detailed understanding of factors that may facilitate inter-human transmission. In this context, researchers from the Institut Pasteur, CNRS, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, worked with colleagues at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), studied the transmission dynamics of Nipah virus during the last 14 years of outbreak investigations in Bangladesh, the country that has reported the largest number of cases. The study showed in particular that adult cases with respiratory symptoms transmitted the virus to more individuals than other cases, and might therefore be targeted for interventions when the isolation of all suspected Nipah cases is not possible. This research paves the way to more efficient control measures. These results will be published in the scientific journal NEJM.

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