Bats may spread new Malaysian virus.A rash of encephalitis acute disseminated encephalitis see under encephalomyelitis. equine encephalitis see under encephalomyelitis. hemorrhagic encephalitis that in which there is inflammation of the brain with hemorrhagic foci and perivascular exudate. cases caused by Nipah virus Nip·ah virus (n p  )n. in Malaysia between September 1998 and June 1999 killed more than a third of the victims, researchers there report. The newly discovered virus belongs to the paramyxovirus 1. a genus of viruses (family Paramyxoviridae) that cause chiefly respiratory infections in a variety of vertebrate hosts; included are mumps and parainfluenza viruses. 2. paramyxoviruses; a genus of viruses of the subfamily Paramyxovirinae (family Paramyxoviridae) that cause chiefly respiratory infections in a variety of vertebrate hosts. Paramyxovirus n. group. Although one person caught the virus from an infected dog, in nearly all cases, the illness spread from pigs PIGS - Passive Infrared Guidance SystemPIGS - Pesticides in Groundwater Strategy PIGS - Pride Integrity Guts Service (plural extension of PIG as derisive term for police) to people working on pig farms, says Chong Tin Tan, a neurologist at the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Pigs that have the virus die, Tan reports. Originally, however, the virus may have come from bats, he suggests. A related virus called Hendra is carried by fruit bats fruit bat, fruit-eating bat found in tropical regions of the Old World. It is relatively large and differs from other bats in the possession of an independent, clawed second digit; it also depends on sight rather than echo-location in maintaining orientation. The Pteropodidae, or flying foxes, are S Asian fruit bats whose short jaws and powerful teeth are specially adapted for piercing the rinds of tough fruit., also known as flying foxes. Highway construction in northern Malaysia could have uprooted bats from their native roosts ROOST - Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 (game) ROOST - Reusable One-stage Orbital Space Truck and driven them into close proximity to the pig farms where the Nipah outbreaks occurred, Tan says. "The high density of pig farms in the epidemic area contributed to the rapid spread of the disease," he says. The disease causes fever, headache, dizziness, and vomiting, as well as brain inflammation, the hallmark of encephalitis. The illness showed little ability to spread from person to person. Three healthcare workers who hadn't been near pigs tested positive for the virus after treating infected patients, but none came down with the disease. Tan and his colleagues studied 94 patients, 30 of whom died from the disease. Fifty patients recovered fully, and the others retained at least some brain damage, Tan and his colleagues report in the April 27 NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. Another hospital in Malaysia reported a 41 percent mortality rate among 103 patients treated, Tan says. In both cases, patients were treated with ribavirin ribavirin /ri·ba·vi·rin/ (ri?bah-vi´rin) a broad-spectrum antiviral used in the treatment of severe viral pneumonia caused by respiratory syncytial virus, particularly in high-risk infants; also used in conjunction with interferon alfa-2b in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C., an antiviral medication. Last year, physicians at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore treated Nipah-infected men who worked at a slaughterhouse slaughterhouse: see abattoir; meatpacking. that had imported Malaysian pigs. Of 11 diagnosed with the virus, 9 developed encephalitis and all survived after treatment with a pair of antivirals, ribavirin and acyclovir acyclovir /acy·clo·vir/ (a-si´klo-ver) a synthetic purine nucleoside with selective activity against herpes simplex virus; used as the base or the sodium salt in the treatment of genital and mucocutaneous herpesvirus infections. a·cy·clo·vir (. The mode of Nipah virus transmission remains unknown, but it clearly involves close contact with infected animals, both groups say. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion