A special report published by the British newspaper “The Guardian” warned of the outbreak of the Nipah virus in China, with a mortality rate of 75%, and that it would cause a future global pandemic that would be more dangerous than the Corona epidemic.
“The Nipah virus is another emerging infectious disease that causes great concern. The Nipah pandemic could break out at any moment. The next global epidemic could be with drug-resistant infections,” said Jayasri Ayer, Executive Director of the European Foundation for Access to Medicine.
According to the report, Nipah can cause severe respiratory problems, as well as inflammation and swelling of the brain, and its death rate ranges from 40% to 75%, and its source is fruit bats, as outbreaks of the disease in Bangladesh and India have been linked to drinking date palm juice.
Nipah is one of 10 infectious diseases identified by the World Health Organization as the greatest threat to public health, especially in light of the unwillingness of major global pharmaceutical companies to respond.
Nipah virus
The Nipah virus is one of the infectious agents that were discovered in recent years, as it was found in 1999 during the outbreak in Malaysia and infection of the nervous and respiratory systems of 265 people, of whom 115 died, and the fruit bats of the fox bats type are the natural carrier of the Nipah virus.
This epidemic can also spread in Australia, Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand and Africa, and it is transmitted from bats to animals and humans, and it can also be transmitted from person to person through saliva, and there are currently no drugs or vaccines for this disease.
People infected with Nipah virus experience fever, cough, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, trouble swallowing and blurred vision.
About 60% of patients infected with the virus enter a coma, in which they urgently need help with breathing, and patients who have developed the disease suffer from severe high blood pressure, high heart rate and high body temperature.
sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jan/26/pharmaceutical-giants-not-ready-for-next-pandemic-report-warns