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Nipah virus-associated encephalitis outbreak, Siliguri, India.
Mandeep S Chadha1, James A Comer, Luis Lowe
1National Institute of Virology, Pune, India.
Emerging Infectious Diseases
|February 24, 2006
Summary
Nipah virus (NiV) infection was retrospectively identified in an Indian outbreak of febrile illness. This finding confirmed NiV presence in India and linked the outbreak to strains from Bangladesh.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Virology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- An outbreak of febrile illness with altered sensorium occurred in Siliguri, India, in early 2001.
- Initial investigations failed to identify an infectious etiology.
- Nipah virus (NiV) outbreaks had recently been reported in neighboring Bangladesh.
Purpose of the Study:
- To retrospectively investigate the cause of the Siliguri outbreak.
- To determine if Nipah virus (NiV) was responsible for the observed febrile illness.
- To characterize the NiV strain involved and its genetic relationship to other isolates.
Main Methods:
- Serological testing for Nipah virus (NiV)-specific IgM and IgG antibodies in patient samples.
- Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect NiV RNA in urine.
- Sequence analysis of detected NiV RNA to determine genetic relatedness.
Main Results:
- NiV-specific antibodies were detected in 9 out of 18 patients.
- NiV RNA was identified in urine samples from 5 patients using RT-PCR.
- Sequence analysis indicated the Siliguri NiV strain was more closely related to Bangladeshi isolates than Malaysian ones.
Conclusions:
- Nipah virus (NiV) infection was confirmed as the cause of the 2001 Siliguri outbreak.
- This study marked the first detection of NiV infection in India.
- The findings suggest a potential epidemiological link between NiV outbreaks in India and Bangladesh.