Nipah virus outbreak in India: is it a bat-man conflict?

Nipah virus infection is a newly emerging zoonotic disease that spreads from animal to human. The fruit bats are the one of the carriers of Nipah virus which gets transmitted from bats to other animals mainly through body fluids. Nipah can cause asymptomatic infection to the acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis in human beings with a dreadful mortality rate of 70 per cent. This review article focused on role of bats in ecosystem and preventive measure to contain the virus by improving public health. In 2018 the outbreak of Nipah in Kerala state of India claimed 17 lives. It has indeed opened Pandora’s box exposing the role of general public, health department and social media and so on. The early detection and the well-oiled medical infrastructure in the state did wonders. Though social media have been accused of spreading misinformation leading to culling of bats, the people of Kerala responded with positive frame of mind. Prompt and synchronized efforts of all stakeholders like health workers, state government, scientists, researchers and central government led to timely and successful control of Nipah virus cases in Kerala.

Interactions between frugivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) and Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) in a tropical dry forest in Valle del Cauca, Colombia / Interacciones entre murciélagos frugívoros (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) y Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) en un bosque seco tropical en Valle del Cauca, Colombia

AbstractIn any ecosystem, fruits are resources that vary in time and space as well as in nutritional content. Coexistence of species from a trophic guild depends on the division and use of resources. Therefore, the organisms that depend on them as a food source, tend to show a certain degree of specialization. This way, understanding the factors that influence the dynamics of seed dispersal is important for the regeneration and conservation of tropical ecosystems. Our aim was to determine variation in consumption of Piper tuberculatum by fruit bat assemblages in the village of Robles (Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). P. tuberculatum is a resource used not only by wildlife but also by people in the village of Robles. Bats were captured in mist nets between June and November 2014, their feces were collected, and the length of the forearm, wing area, leg length and mass were recorded. At the Universidad del Valle seed laboratory, fecal samples were washed, and their content determined. Of the 14 species captured, Sturnira lilium, Carollia brevicauda, Carollia perspicillata and Artibeus lituratus showed signs of having consumed P. tuberculatum.Sturnira lilium was the main consumer of P. tuberculatum fruits, with the greatest number of consumption events of fruit from this plant species, whereas the other bats showed more diversified consumption events. The greatest niche overlap was recorded between C. brevicauda and C. perspicillata, species that showed similar sizes (i.e., wing area and forearm length) followed by S. lilium and C. perspicillata. In contrast, A. lituratus showed the least niche overlap with the other three fruit bats captured. In conclusion, Sturnira lilium showed an interaction Sturnira-Piper, which is the result of low Solanum availability, and this bat species was the largest consumer of P. tuberculatum in the region. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (2): 701-713. Epub 2016 June 01.

ResumenLa coexistencia de las especies de un gremio trófico depende de la división y el uso de recursos. Los frutos en cualquier ecosistema son recursos alimenticios que varían en el tiempo y el espacio, así como en su contenido nutricional, por ende, los organismos que dependen de éstos como fuente alimenticia, tienden a presentar cierto grado de especialización. La comprensión de los factores que influyen en la dinámica de la dispersión de semillas es importante para la regeneración y conservación de los ecosistemas tropicales. Nuestro objetivo fue determinar cómo varía el consumo de Piper tuberculatum (Pipilongo) por parte del ensamblaje de murciélagos frugívoros en el corregimiento de Robles (Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). P. tuberculatum es un recurso utilizado no solo por la fauna, sino también por los habitantes del corregimiento de Robles. Se capturaron murciélagos en redes de niebla entre junio y noviembre 2014, sus heces fueron recolectadas y medidas de la longitud del antebrazo, área alar, longitud de la pata y el peso fueron registradas. En el laboratorio de semillas de la Universidad del Valle, se lavaron las muestras y se determinó su contenido. Las especies Sturnira lilium, Carollia brevicauda, C. perspicillata, y Artibeus lituratus mostraron evidencia de consumo de frutos de P. tuberculatum, entre las 14 especies de murciélagos frugívoros capturadas. Entre ellas, S. lilium fue la principal consumidora de P. tuberculatum, con el mayor número de eventos de consumo de esta especie, mientras que las otras especies de murciélagos tuvieron eventos de consumo más diversos. El mayor traslape de nicho se registró entre las especies C. brevicauda y C. perspicillata, los cuales presentaron un tamaño similar (i.e., área alar, antebrazo), seguido de S. lilium y C. perspicillata. En contraste, el menor traslape de nicho se registró para A. lituratus con cada una de las otras tres especies de murciélagos frugívoras registradas. En conclusión, Sturnira lilium mostró una relación Sturnira-Piper, la cual es el resultado de la baja disponibilidad de Solanum, siendo ésta especie de murciélago el mayor consumidor de P. tuberculatum de la región.

Ebola Virus --- A Global Threat.

Ebola virus is a filamentous, enveloped, non-segmented, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA virus. It belongs to the Filoviridae and was first recognized near the Ebola River valley in Zaire in 1976. Since then most of the outbreaks have occurred to both human and nonhuman primates in sub-Saharan Africa. Ebola virus causes highly fatal hemorrhagic fever in human and nonhuman primates. In addition to hemorrhagic fever, it could be used as a bioterrorism agent. Although its natural reservoir is yet to be proven, current data suggest that fruit bats are the possibility. Infection has also been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines. Human infection is caused through close contact with the blood, secretion, organ or other body fluids of infected animal. Human-to-human transmission is also possible. Ebola virus infections are characterized by immune suppression and a systemic inflammatory response that causes impairment of the vascular, coagulation, and immune systems, leading to multiorgan failure and shock. The virus constitutes an important public health threat in Africa and also worldwide as no effective treatment or vaccine is available till now.

Ebola virus disease: Getting to know a new emerging foe.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers have been at the top of the severity scale in terms of morbidity and mortality among human beings. Many of the viruses have their reservoirs in animal kingdom and from time to time they get introduced to humans and cause sporadic outbreaks and epidemics. Thousands of people from the Western African region have already succumbed to the complications due to Ebola virus infection.</p> <p>The South East Asian region including India has been affected by several outbreaks of communicable diseases like SARS, bird flu, swine flu etc. The current outbreak has been a global concern due to its spread beyond the African continent. WHO has declared EVD as an international health emergency and worldwide efforts have been enhanced to escalate research to find a vaccine or cure for the disease.