Nipah virus: Preventing the next outbreak

Figure 2 Pathogenesis of Nipah virus. The Nipah virus (1) may enter the human body through oral or nasal route (2). From these sites it reaches the blood stream (3) and gets carried away to brain either by crossing the blood brain barrier or through the olfactory nerve. While in the blood stream it may cause generalized septicemia (4). So the secondary infections (5) can occour in organs with epinephrin b2/b3 receptors i.e. brain, blood vessels and smooth muscles. Inflammatory cytokine come into play like IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α. BBB: Blood brain barrier; IL: Interleukin; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; G-CSF: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.