Newly emerged Nipah in India
Three people have tested positive for, and 25 have been hospitalised with, symptoms of Nipah infection in Kerala, India.
The infection is a newly emerging disease that can be transmitted to humans from animals. Symptoms include fever, headache, drowsiness, respiratory illness, disorientation and mental confusion and can progress to coma within 24-48 hours. Infection can be prevented by avoiding exposure to sick pigs and bats in endemic areas and not drinking raw date palm sap.
According to The Independent, at least 10 people in Kerala have now died from confirmed cases of the Nipah virus. Nipah was only identified in 1999 but ranks alongside Ebola and Zika on the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) list of diseases most likely to result in a catastrophic global pandemic.