Nipah virus (continued)
Nipah virus has a number of important attributes that make it a potential agent of bioterrorism. It is an extremely pathogenic organism with a case mortality in humans close to 40%. Besides causing acute infection, it can also give rise to clinical relapse months and years after infection. Other than ribavirin, there are no specific antiviral drugs to combat the virus and no vaccine will be available in the foreseeable future. Diagnostic capability is limited to very few laboratories around the world. Nipah virus can be easily produced in large quantities in cell culture. It should be possible to stabilize it as an aerosol with the capacity for widespread dispersal. Besides infecting humans, the virus can also infect life stock, domestic animals and wildlife, and is likely to cause additional panic to the population. Since the discovery of Nipah virus, only a handful laboratories have access to the virus. However, because of the natural reservoir, it wil not be difficult to isolate the virus from wildlife, making it readily available to any country. It is, therefore, not too far-fetched to think that Nipah virus can be considered a potential agent for bioterrorism.
Lam, Antiviral Res. 57, 113-119 (2003)