Guardian: New Fatal Virus “Nipah” Hits China

The Guardian published a new report warning the world of a new mysterious and fatal infectious virus in China called Nipah.

The executive director of the Dutch Access to Medicine Foundation Jayasree KIyer explained, "an outbreak of the Nipah virus in China, with a fatality rate of up to 75%, is potentially the next big pandemic risk."

“Nipah virus is another emerging infectious disease that causes great concern,” she highlighted, adding, Nipah could blow any moment. The next pandemic could be a drug-resistant infection.”

The new virus can cause severe respiratory problems and encephalitis. It can cause damages to the organ it infects by at least 40%.

The main carriers of such a virus are fruit bats. Palm trees could be one of the main houses of such bats, that's why the virus outbreak occurred in Bangladesh and India.

Nipah is identified as one of the 10 infectious diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the greatest public health risk.

The report asserted that the pharmaceutical firms could be not fully ready for the outbreak of such diseases.

Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals, or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human, according to WHO.