ETIDIOH - NEW

Summary The 2024 Nipah outbreak in Kerala, India —its fifth in six years—and the recurring annual outbreaks in Bangladesh underscore the persistent threat posed by the Nipah virus (NiV) in the region. With a high mortality rate, human-to-human transmission potential , and the widespread presence of Pteropus bats , the natural reservoir, NiV remains a significant epidemic threat . Despite being a WHO priority pathogen , there has been no systematic effort to improve patient care for NiVD, leading to consistently poor outcomes . Current care relies on supportive measures and the ‘ compassionate use ’ of unapproved drugs like ribavirin and remdesivir . Drugs used ‘off-label’ during outbreaks can become the ‘standard of care’ without robust evidence of their safety or efficacy, complicating the testing of new therapies and perpetuating uncertainty about their true effectiveness. To improve NiVD care, we propose four key strategies: 1) Enhance early case detection , 2) optimize supportive c...

Abstract H4Nx avian influenza viruses (AIVs) have been isolated from wild birds and poultry and can also cross the species barrier to infect mammals ( pigs and muskrats ). The widespread presence of these viruses in wild birds and poultry and their ability to be transmitted interspecies make them an undeniable hazard to the poultry farming industry. In the present study, we collected fecal and swab samples from wild birds and poultry in Guangdong Province from January 2019 to March 2024, and various subtypes of AIVs were isolated, including 19 strains of H4 subtype AIVs . Further analysis was conducted on the internal genes of the 19 strains . These strains clustered together with high homology to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), suggesting that H4Nx AIV may be reassorted from HPAIV . Two H4N8 strains are phylogenetically related to the porcine H4N8 AIV. Molecular characterization revealed that all viruses in this study were less pathogenic but had potential mammalian-a...