The Sindh Health Department has issued an advisory on the issue of Nipah, a dangerous virus spreading in India.

An advisory has been issued on the possible risk of spread in Pakistan as well. All staff have been instructed to remain alert in view of the possible threat of Nipah virus.

Director General Health Sindh wrote a letter to all the hospitals. MS, Directors, and Livestock Department of hospitals across Sindh have been directed to remain alert.

Last month in India’s southern state of Kerala shut some schools and offices as officials raced to halt the spread of the deadly Nipah virus, after it killed two people in the fourth outbreak since 2018.

| Punjab issues alert for Nipah virus which can kill upto 74% patients

WHAT IS NIPAH VIRUS AND WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

The Nipah virus was first identified in 1998 during an outbreak of illness among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore.

It is able to infect humans directly through contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats and pigs, with some documented cases of transmission among humans.

Nipah virus spreads rapidly from animals to humans and from humans to humans. The initial symptoms of the virus include fever, headache, body aches, coma and other symptoms.

No case has been reported so far in Pakistan.