Nipah Virus infection is zoonosis, chicken are also indirectly involve

Now a days various messages on social media warns Pakistani nation to avoid chicken consumption, because its source of Nipah virus, In Pakistan production of poultry products is very high to fulfill the consumption requirements. For Layman it is confusing and  debatable either chicken is source of Nipah virus or not, mostly said no its fake news, chicken is safe its not the cause of spread, other said avoid the chicken consumption because, prevention is better than cure.

Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both humans and animals. "Zoonosis means a disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals". Nipah virus was first identified in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia in 1998. The pigs were the intermediate hosts during that outbreak. Around 1.1 million pigs had to be killed to control the outbreak. However, it is not necessary to have an intermediate host during Nipah Virus outbreak.

The natural host of the virus is fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus (fruit-eating species), according to WHO. Transmission of Nipah virus takes place through direct contact with infected bats, pigs, or from other NiV-infected people.

As at Pakistan pigs are not common, Nipah virus found in chicken because consumption of contaminated food (food prepared by segments of pig flesh or blood or infected by fruit bats) or in touch with Nipah V infected living being. 

In our neighbourhood country India, first Nipah outbreak was observed in 1998 and in other neighbour, Siliguri, West Bengal in 2001 without the involvement of pigs. The second incident also emerged in Nadia district in West Bengal in 2007. Scientists have found that humans often contracted the disease by drinking raw date palm sap tapped directly from trees, a sweet treat that fruit bats also enjoy.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infection with Nipah virus is associated with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).  clinical signs are fever, headache, dizziness and vomiting, followed by drowsiness, disorientation and mental confusion, within three-14 days of exposure and an incubation period of five to 14 days. More than 50 per cent of the patients faced a reduced level of consciousness and prominent brain-stem dysfunction. Some patients have a respiratory illness during the early part of their infections, and half of the patients showing severe neurological signs showed also pulmonary signs.

Nipah virus (NiV) is one of the pathogens in the WHO R&D (Research and Development) Blueprint list of epidemic threats needing urgent R&D attention. From 1998 to 2015, more than 600 cases of Nipah virus (NiV) human infections were reported. Later outbreaks, in India and Bangladesh, have caused death in 43% to 100% of infected patients.The virus claimed over 300 lives across Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and India between 1998 and 2008, according to WHO