What is Nipah virus? And what makes it so deadly?

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Allen Cheng, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Monash University

An outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in India has put many countries in Asia on high alert, given the fatality rate in humans can be between 40% and 75%.

Several countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, have introduced new screening and testing measures, after at least two people died of Nipah virus in the Indian state of West Bengal this month.