JAKARTA – Epidemiologist from the Center for Environmental and Population Health at Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman said, apart from the ongoing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, two other viruses, namely the Hendra and Nipah viruses, need to be watched out for.
Dicky said these two viruses are considered dangerous because they can mutate from animals to humans. For this reason, it is necessary to be aware of the two viruses by adopting a healthy and clean lifestyle that leads to a balance of human health, animal health and the environment.
“The more damaged ecosystems create the potential for viruses to jump from animals to humans or what is called zoonotic and can become an epidemic. Two viruses (Hendra and Nipah) that are already present can also be a threat to the next very serious pandemic,” said Dicky when contacted by Beritasatu.com, Friday (20/5/2022).
Dicky explained that the Hendra and Nipah viruses have actually been of concern to global researchers for a long time because these two viruses are members of a very serious zoonotic group because they can cause fatality and serious clinical impacts.
Dicky said, the two viruses can cause inflammation in brain tissue because it will cause seizures and death. Even the mortality rate can reach 50%-100%.
“That’s huge. This means that from two people, at least one person dies, which means that it can cause a lot of casualties,” he said.
In addition to brain tissue, Dicky said that the two viruses also attack the respiratory tract. Both of these viruses, continued Dicky, could very easily develop in areas with bad environmental conditions and poor areas, such as in Africa.
For prevention, Dicky suggested continuing to use the one health approach, which is an approach that leads to a balance of animal, human and environmental health. The reason is, both viruses are found in humans who have close contact with infected animals through fluids or food supplies from infected animals. That way, there is the potential for infection between people who are in close contact.
“So far, person-to-person infections have generally occurred in families in the same household and health services. Although this is not like Covid-19 which is categorized as a disease that is transmitted through the air, it can be transmitted through droplets. This can be a source of infection,” he said.
Editor : Komang ([email protected] )
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