Warming May Expand Range Of S. Asian Fruit Bats Carrying The Rare NIpah Virus, Which Is 75% Fatal In Humans

On May 3, 2018, a 26-year-old man living in the town of Perambra in the Indian state of Kerala went to the hospital complaining of fever and body aches. Muhammad Sabith’s symptoms did not seem serious enough for an overnight stay, so hospital staff sent him home after examining him. Two days later, he died. By the end of the month, 16 other people in Perambra had succumbed to the same illness—Nipah virus, spread by fruit bats throughout South and Southeast Asia.

The virus, though deadly, is rare. In Bangladesh, where cultural practices bring people into contact with bats carrying the virus, less than 350 Nipah cases have been recorded since 2001, said Clifton McKee, an epidemiology researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. But this rarity doesn’t make it less dangerous. Depending on the outbreak, Nipah can have a fatality rate of up to 75 percent.

And just because the virus is rare now does not mean it always will be. Climate change will likely expand the habitable range of the fruit bats that carry Nipah, putting more people in the virus’ crosshairs. Additionally, rising temperatures might push people and their livestock into regions where fruit bats are prevalent, another way to increase the potential of contracting Nipah. The possibility of more exposures has prompted private foundations and pharmaceutical companies to invest millions of dollars researching how to combat the disease, with the first clinical trials of a vaccine to prevent infections set to begin later this year in Bangladesh.

Incidence of Nipah virus in humans has almost exclusively been confined to South Asia. Humans usually contract it when they—or their livestock—overlap with the Pteropus fruit bat, which is endemic to South and Southeast Asia. Many human cases of Nipah virus come from consuming foods contaminated with bat saliva or urine, said Peter Daszak, president of Nature.Health.Global, a nonprofit that conducts scientific research related to conservation and global health.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23082025/climate-change-to-expand-fruit-bat-habitat-nipah-virus/