Among emerging viruses, Nipah virus is particularly deadly, killing up to 70 percent of the people it infects. That’s why Nipha has been declared a potential bioterrorism agent by the National Biodefense Research Agenda.Now scientists have identified the way the virus infects cells, causing often-fatal encephalitis. This discovery could lead to medications and vaccines to prevent or cure the disease, according to a report in the July 6 online edition of Nature.Nipah virus is carried by bats. It can be transmitted directly from bats to humans or to pigs and then to humans. The first known outbreak of the virus occurred in Malaysia between 1998 and 1999. That outbreak killed 105 people and sickened 265. The Malaysian government also had to destroy more than 1 million pigs to prevent further spread of the virus. In pigs, the virus causes only about 5 percent mortality.
