A nurse contaminated throughout a latest outbreak of the brain-damaging virus Nipah in India has died, following a weeks-long coma, well being officers have mentioned.
The 25-year-old girl nurse contracted the virus in late December after coming into contact with an contaminated date sap.
Though she later examined adverse for the virus, officers mentioned she developed a number of problems and died on Thursday following a lung an infection and cardiac arrest.
Whereas her colleague, who was additionally contaminated with Nipah, was discharged final month.
The nurse’s demise marks the second reported demise from Nipah since a small outbreak started in West Bengal.
Final week, the World Well being Group (WHO) confirmed {that a} girl in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, had additionally died after contracting the virus.
WHO mentioned no folks the affected person got here into contact with examined optimistic for Nipah, additionally referred to as NiV.
International locations together with Thailand, Nepal, Taiwan and Pakistan have launched well being screening measures at airports in response to the outbreak. Nevertheless, the WHO and impartial specialists have careworn that the danger of a wider pandemic stays low.
Dr Efstathios Giotis, a lecturer in life sciences on the College of Essex, careworn that Nipah outbreaks have at all times been ‘geographically restricted’.
“At current, the Nipah virus doesn’t pose a threat to the UK,” he mentioned. “Whereas viruses can change over time, Nipah doesn’t presently unfold simply between people, which makes a world pandemic unlikely.
“Ongoing surveillance, fast outbreak response, and powerful public well being methods stay key to protecting the danger low.”
Traditionally, there have been no confirmed circumstances outdoors Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
The UK Well being Safety Company advises vacationers to affected nations to keep away from contact with fruit bats, wash fruit completely earlier than consuming, and keep away from consuming uncooked or partially fermented date palm sap.
There may be presently no point out of Nipah within the Overseas Workplace’s journey recommendation for India.
