Nipah Virus antibodies found in bats from Mahabaleshwar cave

Nipah Virus antibodies found in bats from Mahabaleshwar cave

NIPAH VIRUS

Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.

The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.

Nipah virus was first recognized in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers in, Malaysia. No new outbreaks have been reported in Malaysia since 1999.

During the first recognized outbreak in Malaysia, which also affected Singapore, most human infections resulted from direct contact with sick pigs or their contaminated tissues.

Nipah Virus antibodies found in bats

A cross-sectional survey by Indian Council of Medical Research National Institute of Virology to study the prevalence of Nipah virus (NiV) in bats of India, Has picked up samples with the presence of antibodies against the Nipah virus in some bat species from a cave in Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Satara district, Maharashtra. NiV is on the top-10 priority list pathogens identified by the World Health Organization.

Nipah Virus outbreak India

Till date, India has experienced four episodes of NiV outbreaks with CFR ranging from 65% to 100%. The first evidence of NiV infection was reported in Siliguri district, West Bengal in 2001, followed by Nadia district in West Bengal in 2007.

A third outbreak occurred in Kozhikode district of Kerala state in 2018 with 18 case fatalities, Followed by another outbreak in the same state in 2019. A study in 2018 has identified many South East Asian countries including Indian states as potential hotspots for the NiV disease.

Previous study in bats

Pteropus medius bats, which are large fruit-eating bats, are the incriminated reservoir for NiV in India as both NiV

RNA and antibodies were detected in the samples of

these bats collected during previous NiV outbreaks.

Studies on other species of bats as potential NiV reservoirs in India are very limited.

Current study on bats

Detection of possible Nipah virus infection in Rousettus leschenaultii and Pipistrellus Pipistrellus bats in Maharashtra, Published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health - has found the virus and antibodies in different species. During March 2020, from a cave in Mahabaleshwar, two species of bats, Rousettus leschenaultii (medium-sized fruit eating bats) and Pipistrellus pipistrellus (tiny insectivorous bats), were trapped by researchers using mist nets.

Throat and rectal swab specimens were collected from all the bats. Necropsy of ten bats of each species was performed at the containment facility of Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune. RNA was extracted from samples and Anti-NiV IgG antibodies were detected in a number of the samples. One bat each from R leschenaultii and P pipistrellus species tested positive for both NiV RNA and anti NiV IgG antibodies, the study said.

This is the first report of possible NiV infection in R leschenaultii bats in India.In earlier investigations during the last decade, NiV activity could not be detected in R leschenaultii, despite processing several hundred bats including bats from the same location.