Nipah virus

What is the Nipah virus?

The Nipah virus is a highly contagious and deadly virus that was first identified in 1999 when pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore became very sick. During that outbreak, nearly 300 people were infected, and more than 100 people died. To stop the outbreak, authorities had to euthanize over one million pigs. Since then, the virus has been identified in outbreaks in Bangladesh and India. TheU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that outbreaks of Nipah virus now occur in Bangladesh almost every year, and there have been several outbreaks in India prior to the current one. The death rate from the Nipah virus is estimated to be about 75%.