Remembering the Nipah virus outbreak

While pigs were the main source of infection in the first Nipah outbreak in Malaysia, fruit bats also serve as a host for the virus and have been the source of more recent cases. — Photos: Filepic

In December 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) came out with a list of emerging diseases likely to cause severe outbreaks in the near future, and for which few or no medical countermeasures exist.

The list included Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome), SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), Nipah virus (NiV) disease, Rift Valley fever and Disease X.