China’s infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), ground zero for the worldwide Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, has offered to help India contain an outbreak of the dangerous Nipah virus, even as Indian officials claim the outbreak is coming under control.
Researchers at the WIV claim they have developed a treatment for Wuhan coronavirus, an orally-administered anti-viral drug called VV116, that is also a “promising candidate for treating the Nipah virus.”
The study that made this claim involved tests of VV116 with golden hamsters, whose survival rate for the deadly Nipah virus was said to increase by over 66 percent. The drug noticeably reduced the viral loads in the lungs, spleen, and brains of the test subjects, offering some protection for three of the vital organs that are usually attacked by Nipah.
“This finding is the first to demonstrate the therapeutic potential of VV116 against Nipah virus,” the WIV said in a statement on Monday. “It can be used not only as a preventive drug for high-risk groups such as healthcare workers and laboratory workers, but also as a readily available drug option for dealing with current and future Nipah virus outbreaks.”
A Chinese pharmaceutical firm called Vigonvita Life Science Co. said the preclinical data was encouraging, and it was ready to move forward with clinical trials, the next step in potentially bringing the drug to market. There is currently no licensed drug treatment for Nipah.
The Nipah virus is one of the most dangerous infections on the planet, with a fatality rate of between 40% and 70%, according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).
The first known outbreak occurred in Malaysia and Singapore, between 1998 and 1999. All further Nipah outbreaks to date have occurred in South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, the Philippines, Singapore, and India. The largest outbreak of Nipah was in Bangladesh in 2001, with over a hundred fatalities.
Patients are afflicted with symptoms that initially resemble a less dangerous fever, including high temperatures, headaches, coughing, vomiting, and a sore throat.
The deadly danger is that Nipah causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord – encephalitis and/or meningitis – beginning somewhere between three and 21 days after the onset of the less dangerous symptoms. Nipah has a typical incubation period of four to 21 days, which means a victim can be infected for quite some time before life-threatening conditions appear. Even those who survive the disease can suffer permanent neurological damage.
Nipah is a zoonotic virus, which means it develops in animals who pass it along to humans. The primary hosts are fruit bats, who pass Nipah along to animals like pigs, goats, and sheep, which can then infect humans who consume their meat, or humans who consume fruit products that were contaminated by secretions from the bats.
Transmission between humans is possible, primarily through bodily fluids, so close and unprotected contact with infected persons can be hazardous.
Indian officials have reported two confirmed cases of Nipah in the state of West Bengal since December. On Wednesday, the Indian Health Ministry said 196 contacts of the infected persons have been traced, quarantined, and tested. The ministry did not release details about the status of these quarantined individuals, but it said no further infections have been detected in West Bengal, so it believes the outbreak is under control.
“The situation is under constant monitoring, and all necessary public health measures are in place,” the Indian Health Ministry said.
The W.H.O. told China’s state-run Global Times on Tuesday that it considers the risk of further spread from the outbreak to be “low,” and sees no evidence of increased human-to-human transmission in India.
“It is possible that further exposure to Nipah virus could occur, given the known reservoir of Nipah virus in bat populations in some part of India and Bangladesh, including West Bengal. Community awareness of risk factors such as consumption of date palm sap needs to be strengthened,” a W.H.O. official said.
Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Nepal have nevertheless increased screening for airline passengers from West Bengal. China’s National Disease Control and Prevention Administration said on Tuesday that no cases have been detected in China, and predicted the overall impact of the West Bengal outbreak on India or China will be “relatively small.”
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