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- Researchers from the National Institutes of Health,U.S have shown that Remdesivir drug used for Ebola treatment can stop Nipah virus from making new copies of its genome.
- This is because the genome which is an essential part of the virus cannot replicate itself very well in the presence of the drug and there is less damage to organs and thus less severe disease.
- The research was carried out on eight monkeys who were injected with a lethal dose of Nipah virus.The ones that did not receive the drug developed respiratory problems.But the four animals which were treated with the drug survived.
- Nipah Virus is a zoonotic virus i.e transmitted from animals to humans. It is a member of the genus Henipavirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of Nipah virus.
- It was first recognised in 1998-99 during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore.
- Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human.




