NIPAH VIRUS: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT Nipah virus, recentaly recognized, highly pathogenic, a previously unknown paramyxovirus was the main cause of the encephalitis outbreak in Malaysia. This virus can cause severe encephalitis and respiratory problem. Despite of this severe pathogenicity at present there are no approved vaccines or passive immunization therapy available for preventing or treating nipah virus infection in humans or animals. Nipah virus shares many similar characteristics to Hendra virus. Because of their homology, a new genus called Henipavirus (Hendra + Nipah) was introduced. Nipah virus infection fatality rate ranges from 40-70%, sometimes as high as 100% in some outbreaks. In Malaysia 265 cases were observed during 1998 to 1999. In Bangladesh during period 2001–2007, 7 outbreaks of Nipah virus infection were identified. This review covers many of the aspects of the outbreak caused by this new nipah virus, with main emphasis on the structure of virus and its effects on human health. This review also covers recent development in the treatment for deadly nipah virus which include some antiviral agents like Rabinavir and Fabinavir and human monoclonal antibodies mAb, m101, m102.4. KEY WORDS: Nipah virus, Hedra virus, Paramyxovirus