The <keyword id="28504" type="General" weightage="70" keywordseo="kerala" source="Orion">Kerala</keyword> government has strengthened measures to prevent the spread of Nipah infection after the brain-damaging virus killed two people and infected two others in this north Kerala district. Considering the serious nature of the disease, the <keyword id="6354399" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kozhikode" source="Orion">Kozhikode</keyword> administration declared seven village panchayats as containment zones. In a Facebook post, Kozhikode District Collector A Geetha said that the panchayats declared as containment zones included Atanchery, Maruthonkara, Tiruvallur, Kuttiyadi, Kayakkodi, Villyapalli, and Kavilumpara. No travel in or out of these containment zones will be allowed till further notice. The police have been asked to cordon off these areas, she said on Tuesday. Only stores selling essential commodities and medical supplies will be allowed to function. Stores selling essential goods will be allowed to function from 7 am to 5 pm. No time bar has been given for pharmacies and health centres. Local self-government institutions and village offices can function with minimum staff. Banks, other government or quasi-government institutions, educational institutions, and anganwadis should not operate, the collector said. The public should use online services and avoid going to local self-government institutions, she said. Buses or vehicles plying on national highways through the containment zones should not stop in the affected areas. Directions regarding this should be issued by the regional transport officer and district transport officer, the post said. All should maintain social distancing and use masks and sanitizer in the containment zones, it said. Soon after the <keyword id="6544034" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nipah-virus" source="Orion">Nipah virus</keyword> infection was confirmed in Kozhikode district, Chief Minister <keyword id="6356705" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pinarayi-vijayan" source="Orion">Pinarayi Vijayan</keyword> had urged people not to panic and to take precaution instead. "Everyone should strictly follow the instructions of the health department and the police and fully cooperate with the restrictions," he had said. Talking to reporters in Kozhikode on Tuesday, state Health Minister Veena George said one of the people who was infected with the virus was a nine-year-old boy. George said out of the five samples, three have tested positive. "The samples of the person who died on Monday and two others under treatment, including the nine-year-old boy, have tested positive," she said. The death of the first person, on August 30, was initially considered a death due to the comorbidity of liver cirrhosis, but his son, the nine-year-old boy who is already in ICU, and his 24-year-old brother-in-law are the two positive cases that were detected on Tuesday.

Kerala govt strengthens measures to prevent spread of Nipah virus

<ul><li>Kerala battles with the sudden outbreak of <keyword id="6544034" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nipah-virus" source="Orion">Nipah virus</keyword> while combating COVID-19 in the state.</li><li>The incubation period of this virus is two weeks and the fatality rate is 40-80%, as per WHO.</li><li>The transmitter of the disease can be a pig, a fruit bat, dogs, goats, cats or even horses.</li></ul>As Kerala is already fighting a tough battle with COVID-19 cases, accounting for more than 50% of daily cases in India, a sudden outbreak of Nipah virus has created more tension in the state. A 12 year-old boy in Kozhikode district succumbed to Nipah virus on September 7. The boy had symptoms of encephalitis (swollen brain) and myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscles). His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. A team from the Centre was rushed to Kerala to help in curbing the infection. 11 more people in the Kozhikode district have shown symptoms of the Nipah virus, as per media reports. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Is Nipah virus and COVID-19 same?" comment="subhead" text="Is Nipah virus and COVID-19 same?">Is Nipah virus and COVID-19 same?</cmsannotation> Both viruses appear to be similar, but are quite different. Nipah virus is a zoonotic infection, which means these infections are transmitted from animals to humans or vice versa. The transmitter of the disease can be a pig, a fruit bat, dogs, goats, cats or even horses. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What is the Nipah virus?" comment="subhead" text="What is the Nipah virus?">What is the Nipah virus?</cmsannotation> Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus which can be transmitted from one animal to another or humans through contaminated food or directly between people and is caused by fruit bats. The first outbreak was reported in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998-99 and nearly 300 people were infected with the virus, and around 100 people succumbed to it. In India, it was first detected in Siliguri, West Bengal in 2001, and around 45 people had died from the virus. Kerala also <a href="https://www.who.int/southeastasia/outbreaks-and-emergencies/health-emergency-information-risk-assessment/surveillance-and-risk-assessment/nipah-virus-outbreak-in-kerala#:~:text=Nipah%20Virus%20Outbreak%20in%20Kerala&amp;text=On%2019%20May%202018%2C%20a,as%20of%201%20June%202018.">reported</a> several cases of Nipah virus in 2018. The incubation period of this virus is two weeks and the fatality rate is 40-80%, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Symptoms of Nipah virus" comment="subhead" text="Symptoms of Nipah virus">Symptoms of Nipah virus</cmsannotation> <ul><li>Cough and cold</li><li>Sore throat</li><li>Dizziness and drowsiness</li><li>Muscle pain and body ache</li><li>encephalitis (swollen brain) causing headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, mental confusion and seizures</li><li>myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscles)</li></ul>According to WHO, Nipah virus infection in humans can range from asymptomatic to acute respiratory infection and fatal encephalitis. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Treatment for Nipah virus" comment="subhead" text="Treatment for Nipah virus">Treatment for Nipah virus</cmsannotation> There is no such treatment for this infection. However, one should immediately consult his/her doctor on the development of any of the above symptoms. People are recommended to not to self-medicate as this can be risky and can further deteriorate one’s condition. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Precautions one can take to avoid the virus" comment="subhead" text="Precautions one can take to avoid the virus">Precautions one can take to avoid the virus</cmsannotation> <ul><li>Avoid eating fruits and vegetables, which have fallen on the ground as it may have the chances of containing the virus.</li><li>Stay away from fruit bats and avoid pig feeding.</li><li>Maintain your healthy lifestyle.</li></ul> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-shopping-spree-continues-this-time-it-is-gradeup/articleshow/86010989.cms">Byju's' shopping spree continues — this time, it is Gradeup</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sansera-engineering-ipo-most-likely-to-open-on-september-14/articleshow/86012856.cms">Sansera Engineering IPO most likely to open next week</a>

Nipah virus — All you need to know about symptoms, treatment and precautions

WHO says Nipah virus can be a potential epidemic in future. The outbreak of Nipah virus recognized in Bangladesh in 2004 was said to be caused by consuming date palm sap that was exposed to Nipah virus infected fruit bats. Nipah virus outbreaks were noticed in Kerala in India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, and eastern Australia. The recent death of three members in the Nipah virus affected family in Kerala made the Kerala State Health Department to put the state on high alert. The nature of Nipah virus has not been ascertained so far. Symptoms and signs of Nipah virus infection in humans Human beings infected with Nipah virus can show up asymptomatic infection or acute respiratory infection ranging from mild to severe states in addition to encephalitis that can prove fatal. Some of the symptoms developed by persons infected with Nipah virus include headaches, fevers, muscle pain, sore throat and vomiting. They might also feel drowsiness, altered consciousness, and some neurological conditions like acute encephalitis or brain inflammation. In some affected individuals, Nipah virus can lead to severe kind of respiratory problems and acute respiratory distress. In some other serious cases of Nipah virus infection, the individuals might experience severe respiratory difficulties, atypical pneumonia, and seizures. Such conditions can also progress to the level of coma within a period of 24 to 48 hours. Convulsions and pulmonary signs can also be noticed in some infected persons. The incubation period of this virus is found to be between 4 to 14 days and in some cases, this can even drag on for as long as 45 days. The symptoms of Nipah virus are often confused with Japanese encephalitis. The outbreak of Nipah virus in Malaysia led to the death of more than 50% of the cases infected with Nipah virus. How to treat Nipah virus As on date, there are no drugs or vaccines available with us to treat Nipah virus infection. In fact, the WHO has identified Nipah virus as a priority disease for their Research and Development. Severe cases of Nipah virus infections are to be treated to prevent severe respiratory disorders and neurological complications including seizures. Since the vaccine to treat this deadly virus is absent today, prevention is the best way to stop the infection and spread of Nipah virus. Appropriate detergents must be used for a thorough cleaning of the infected pigs if any instances of Nipah virus outbreak is noted in animals, the farm must be immediately quarantined. In order to reduce the risk of Nipah virus outbreak the WHO suggests culling of infected animals, burial or incineration of the carcasses such steps can minimize the risk of transmission of Nipah virus to people. Nipha virus Treatment Treatment of Nipah virus is highly limited. Only supportive care can be given to the infected persons. There is no specific treatment plan available to the medical industry today. Extreme precautions are necessary for the healthcare workers dealing with Nipah virus infected persons and while handling the laboratory samples.

All you need to know about Nipah Virus Symptoms and Treatment

<ul><li>The southern state of <keyword id="28504" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword> has been hit by the <keyword id="6544034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nipah-virus">Nipah virus</keyword>.</li><li>There have been nine deaths in Kerala’s Kozhikode due to high fever, and at least three have been caused by the virus. </li><li>The <keyword id="83655" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-health-ministry">Union Health Ministry</keyword> has sent a team to assist virus hit regions in Kerala.</li></ul><keyword id="6545212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nipah">Nipah</keyword> is on the <keyword id="43588" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Health-Organization">World Health Organization</keyword>'s list of viruses most likely to cause a global pandemic. It's the virus that inspired the 2011 movie <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g">Contagion</a>. And just this past January, governments and philanthropists <a href="http://cepi.net/cepi-officially-launched">pledged</a> hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a Nipah vaccine because it poses such a big threat. The Nipah virus, one of the most deadly viruses on the World Health Organization list, has hit Kerala. The state health department has confirmed three deaths to be caused by Nipah virus in Kerala’s Kozhikode. At least nine people in Kozhikode died due to high fever, says a <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/kerala-9-die-due-to-high-fever-2-affected-with-nipah-virus-118052100239_1.html">report</a>. What is Nipah virus? How does it spread? The Nipah virus is carried by fruit <keyword id="92255" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bats">bats</keyword>, of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus, and was first identified during an outbreak in Kampung Sungai Nipah in <keyword id="8695" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> in 1998. The virus can cause diseases to human beings and animals. The disease can be transmitted both from animal-human and human-human contact. The virus can spread to humans through food contaminated by bat saliva or urine. India has had two reported outbreaks of Nipah virus, both the times in <keyword id="6357783" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-bengal">West Bengal</keyword>, once in 2001 and then in 2007. The total death toll during the outbreaks was fifty of the seventy-one reported cases. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the fatality rate of the virus is <a href="http://www.searo.who.int/entity/emerging_diseases/links/nipah_virus_outbreaks_sear/en/">75%</a> on an average. Symptoms of Nipah virus-affected patients: After the exposure, the virus has an incubation period of 5-14 days. Here are the symptoms of Nipah virus-affected patients: <ul><li>3-14 days of fever</li><li>Drowsiness</li><li>Disorientation and mental confusion</li><li>Respiratory illness</li></ul>Long-term effects of Nipah virus on affected humans: <ul><li>Inflammation of the brain</li><li>Nervous diseases</li><li>Persistent convulsions and personality changes.</li><li>Latent infection and reactivation of Nipah virus.</li></ul> Prevention The only way of prevention is to stay away from infected animals and not to eat fruits that have fallen to the ground as they might have been infected by the virus. Cure and Treatments The virus, as of now, does not have a cure. The primary treatment for humans is intensive care. Nipah virus in Kerala With the confirmation of Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, and it leading to three deaths in Kozhikode, the Union Health Ministry has sent a team of experts to assist the state. In the past, the outbreaks were caused due to the disease transmission due to contacts from infected bats, pigs and people. Out of the three victims of Nipah virus, two are men and the third is a woman. The two men were brothers and the woman, a relative who visited them in hospital, said a report on <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/3-dead-from-mysterious-nipah-virus-in-kerala-centre-sends-team-10-points-1854897">NDTV</a>. People suspected to be affected by the virus are currently being monitored at the Kozhikode Medical College and a few other hospitals.

A rare virus carried by fruit bats may have just started to spread in India

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/future-of-healthcare"></a><div type="image" title="A person in a light-blue protective suit and helmet with face mask near laboratory equipment." height="1614" width="2152" msid="86242006" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Drugmakers big and small are storming into messenger RNA research.</li><li>The technology behind the first COVID-19 vaccines could help fight other diseases, including cancer.</li><li>Early leaders in the <keyword id="11976522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mrna" source="Orion">mRNA</keyword> space include <keyword id="11901412" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="moderna" source="Orion">Moderna</keyword>, BioNTech, Pfizer, Sanofi, and GlaxoSmitKline.</li></ul>While the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered as a scourge on humanity, there are silver linings. Perhaps the biggest success story has been coronavirus vaccines, which were developed in record time and have undoubtedly <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2021/jul/deaths-and-hospitalizations-averted-rapid-us-vaccination-rollout">saved millions of lives</a>. Looking beyond the pandemic, the underlying technology behind the leading COVID-19 shots could also be useful for many other diseases, potentially leading to dozens of new treatments and vaccines over time. The first vaccines, developed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insider-pfizer-biontech-historic-coronavirus-vaccine-program-2020-11">by Pfizer-BioNTech</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-startup-to-biotech-developing-coronavirus-vaccine-flagship-pioneering-2020-5">Moderna</a>, are based on a new technology platform called messenger RNA, or mRNA. While drug companies have been working on mRNA-based medicines for years, the COVID-19 vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines to be authorized and widely used. Now, scientists are eager <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vaccine-mrna-covid-drug-treatment-future-of-medicine-2021-5">to usher in a new era of medicine</a>, applying the learnings from COVID-19 to a range of illnesses, including cancer, HIV, and rare diseases.Only a few years ago, mRNA was seen as a promising but unproven idea in drug development. Now, the world's largest drugmakers - like Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi - are building their mRNA capabilities as the pandemic has vaulted relatively smaller biotechs like Moderna and BioNTech to record valuations.<h2>mRNA taps into genetic insights over the past decades </h2>Many vaccines aim to deliver a crucial protein to cells to teach them to fight off a certain pathogen. The mRNA approach uses genetics to go a step back in that process.Our cells convert DNA to RNA molecules. RNA tells cells how to produce proteins. mRNA vaccines deliver those genetic instructions to build a certain protein, rather than the protein itself. Drug engineers can design mRNA therapies to control which protein to make and how much. That mRNA sequence is then placed in a microscopic blob of fat, called a lipid nanoparticle, which carries the genetic payload into our cells. Because mRNA therapies can theoretically be designed in the lab, mRNA holds the promise of addressing a wide range of diseases. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel often calls it "plug-and-play" technology, where scientists can design additional mRNA sequences with a higher-than-usual chance they'll work.<h2>The mRNA pipeline extends beyond COVID-19 </h2>The mRNA technology won't be limited to vaccines.Moderna <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/modernas-5-biggest-vaccine-programs-after-covid-19-2021-4">is already testing in human studies potential vaccines</a> against the flu, cytomegalovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and Zika. Vaccines against the mononucleosis-causing Epstein-Barr virus, the Nipah virus, and HIV are still in the earliest stages of research. The Massachusetts <keyword id="11908912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biotech" source="Orion">biotech</keyword> is also developing mRNA treatments for the Chikungunya virus and is exploring research into auto-immune disorders and cancer. The German biotech BioNTech originally focused on fighting cancer with mRNA. That's still reflected in its pipeline, where the bulk of the research is in oncology. The biotech is in the early stages of human studies testing its mRNA technology against a range of cancer types, including melanoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer among others. BioNTech also has some additional vaccine research. In partnership with Pfizer, it's <a href="https://biontech.de/sites/default/files/2019-08/20180816_BioNTech-Signs-Collaboration-Agreement-with-Pfizer.pdf">working on a flu vaccine that has yet to start human testing</a>. BioNTech <a href="https://biontech.de/sites/default/files/2019-08/20181104_20181105_BioNTech-and-the-University-of-Pennsylvania.pdf">also partnered with the University of Pennsylvania</a> in 2018 to work on vaccines for infectious diseases.<h2>Capturing the attention of drug giants </h2>Moderna and BioNTech are far from alone.While Pfizer partnered with BioNTech to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, the pharma giant <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fpfizer-goes-it-alone-to-expand-vaccine-business-beyond-covid-19-pandemic-11616491800">is hiring its own mRNA team</a> that will work independently from BioNTech. Pfizer has mapped out three waves of mRNA research: more infectious-disease vaccines, expanding to rare disease and cancer, and potentially going into prevalent heart and inflammatory diseases if there's more evidence the approach will work. Meanwhile, in August, the French <keyword id="11908913" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pharmaceutical" source="Orion">pharmaceutical</keyword> company Sanofi <a href="https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-08-03-07-00-00-2273307">said it would buy Translate Bio</a>, a tiny Massachusetts biotech specializing in mRNA, for $3.2 billion. CEO Paul Hudson said the deal will allow Sanofi to work on mRNA in vaccines, immunology, oncology, and rare diseases.GlaxoSmithKline has also invested in its own mRNA program, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gsk-vaccine-research-covid-departures-uncertain-future-2021-4">which is led by its Rockville, Maryland vaccine research unit</a>. The British pharma company hasn't specified its long-term plans in mRNA, but started an early stage human study testing its own potential mRNA COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year. The leader of its vaccine unit has pledged GSK will be a leader in mRNA and also has inked a partnership with CureVac, a German mRNA specialist, <a href="https://www.curevac.com/en/2021/08/16/second-generation-mrna-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-cv2cov-demonstrates-improved-immune-response-and-protection-in-preclinical-study/">to develop a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine</a>.

Beyond COVID-19 vaccines, mRNA's pioneers have big plans for using the technology against a range of diseases

What Is Chamki Fever/Acute Encephalitis Syndrome Chamki fever or encephalitis is an inflammatory condition of the brain resulting in a variety of associated symptoms. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) causes an acute-onset of fever associated with headache and most commonly reported in children and young adults. This illness brings about an alarming rate of morbidity and mortality. The recent outbreak of chamki fever in Bihar resulted in over 100 deaths in Muzaffarpur and its adjoining regions in the state of Bihar, India. Most notably, the similar outbreak of chamki fever resulted in about 700 deaths in 2014. Predominantly, chamki fever affects children and young adults in the age group of 1 to 10. The name chamki bukhar means fever condition associated with a seizure. Reports say that chamki fever or AES has spread in over 12 districts of Bihar including Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and East Champaran with Muzaffarpur declared as the worst hit zone. What is Chamki Fever or Acute Encephalitis Syndrome Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) or chamki fever is a highly serious public health problem in India. It manifests as an acute onset of fever and a seriously affected mental condition resulting in confusion, disorientation, delirium, or coma. The affected individual may experience seizures. Chamki fever can happen in any age and at any time of the year. Muzaffarpur, Bihar and adjoining areas in Bihar are litchi producing districts. This disease mostly spreads far and wide in the months between April and June especially in children who are undernourished with a history of consuming litchis from the neighboring orchards. Causes of Chamki fever or Acute Encephalitis Syndrome Viruses are said to be the main agents causing AES. However, other sources like bacteria, fungus, chemicals, parasites, spirochetes, toxins, and some noninfectious agents have also been noted to cause chamki fever as studied over the past few decades. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is identified as the major cause of AES in India. The percentage of this agent ranges from 5-35 percent. Nipah virus and Zika virus are also said to be AES causing agents. In some cases. The other agents causing chamki fever include Influenza A virus, simplex virus, mumps, dengue, West Parvovirus B4, Nile virus, Epstein-Barr virus Chandipura virus, measles, enteroviruses, scrub typhus, and S pneumonia. Symptoms of chamki fever or Encephalitis Some of the prominent and most common symptoms of chamki fever include High temperature, Headache, extreme sensitivity to light, stiff neck and back, nausea, and mental confusion. In severe cases of chamki fever, seizures and paralysis can result. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) As discussed so far, JEV is identified as the major cause of AES in India. This virus is spread by mosquitos and it is a kind of flavivirus. This virus belongs to the same genus like dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. So far no cure has been discovered for chamki fever. The treatment available now focuses mainly on relieving the severe clinical symptoms found in the affected persons and supporting the patients to overcome the infective condition. Treatment for chamki fever or Encephalitis The affected persons must be treated immediately to avoid severe complications. The patients must be admitted to the Intensive Care unit or ICU to prevent any kinds of major mishaps. Chamki fever can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs including Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen and Naproxen Sodium which can bring down the temperature and headache. Majority of cases reported with chamki fever can get resolved in a matter of a few days. However, some severe cases can take about a few weeks to recover.

What Is Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (Chamki Fever) - All you need to know

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d3f5e31a209d351ed341319-2400/bearwalkmoderna077.jpg" alt="Moderna lab facilities biotech" />ModernaTablets allow Moderna employees to monitor daily operations.<ul class="summary-list"><li>The $10 billion biotech Moderna developed a potential coronavirus vaccine in record time, zooming past Big Pharma competitors.</li><li>The company's CEO Stephane Bancel sat down with Business Insider to discuss the technology platform that drove its speed, and how the company hopes to pioneer a new way of developing vaccines. </li><li>"The speed is one dimension, but the piece that excites me the most about this technology is we can do vaccines that cannot be done using traditional technology," Bancel said.</li><li>The potential coronavirus vaccine will still require at least 12 to 18 months of testing in humans to determine if it's safe and works to prevent the virus, according to a top US health official.</li><li>Here's the inside story of how Moderna went from the virus being sequenced to a vaccine being shipped in 42 days.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>NORWOOD, Massachusetts - Stephane Bancel was vacationing in the south of France with his family when he first read about the virus.It was early January when the biotech executive saw a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-officials-work-to-solve-chinas-mystery-virus-outbreak-11578308757?mod=searchresults&amp;page=1&amp;pos=6">Wall Street Journal article</a> describing a "mystery virus outbreak" in central China. He shot an email off from his iPad about the story to Dr. Barney Graham, the deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. Graham said they didn't know what the virus was yet. A few days later they did: a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">novel coronavirus</a>. Bancel asked the NIH leader to let him know when they had the virus' genetic sequence. His company, Moderna, was ready to get to work.In the weeks since, the virus has spread across the globe, weighed on financial markets, and killed more than 3,300 people. In that same period, about 100 employees at Moderna, roughly one-tenth of the company's workforce, worked around the clock to develop a potential coronavirus vaccine."They did what they had to do to get things done," Bancel, Moderna's CEO, said in an interview with Business Insider, calling the period full of "crazy hours, short nights." The biotech <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-coronavirus-mrna-vaccine-candidate-development-timeline-2020-2">shipped the first batches of a vaccine</a> to the NIH on February 24, just 42 days after receiving the virus' genetic sequence.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e5ed6dcfee23d187762e054-2400/gettyimages-1192158065.jpg" alt="Stephane Bancel" />Steven Ferdman/Getty ImagesModerna CEO, Stephane Bancel attends 2019 Forbes Healthcare Summit at the Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 05, 2019 in New York City.Now, under the brightest possible light of an ongoing outbreak, Moderna is challenging the lengthy and costly process of vaccine development. The company has never before brought a vaccine to market, and a victory would help establish its platform as a new type of medicine.Early human data from other Moderna vaccines released in 2019 helped show that its approach works, Needham analyst Alan Carr said in an interview. But Carr cautioned the company still faces risks in development, as it has yet to start any late-stage clinical testing - the final step before gaining regulatory approval for vaccines and medicines.It could be more than a year before we get a final verdict on whether Moderna's vaccine works. It will take at least 12 to 18 months to know if Moderna's vaccine, or any others, are safe and effective, Anthony Fauci, the longtime leader of the NIH's infectious disease unit, has repeatedly said.The first clinical trial is kicking off just as some much larger drugmakers have only put out timelines to get to that stage. Johnson &amp; Johnson, the world's largest healthcare company, is aiming to start a vaccine clinical trial in November. The French pharma giant Sanofi expects to start a coronavirus vaccine study in early 2021.With the world watching, Moderna didn't just outpace its Big Pharma rivals, which dwarf the Massachusetts biotech in size and resources. It lapped history. It took more than 10 times as long to go from genetic sequence to vaccine candidate in the case of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-treatments-vaccine-jj-regeneron-gilead-2020-2">The US is sprinting to develop a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Here's how 7 top drugmakers are racing to tackle an outbreak that's spreading around the world.</a> But given the time it takes to determine if a vaccine actually works, the vaccine would be a longer-term solution. With the potential for the virus to re-emerge in future seasons, a coronavirus vaccine still holds immense public health value, R&amp;D experts told Business Insider. Citing that public-health value, Bancel <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-ceo-stephane-bancel-interview-coronavirus-vaccine-price-2020-3">told us</a> Moderna will be "very thoughtful" about setting a price."There is no world, I think, where we would contemplate to price this higher" than vaccines to prevent other respiratory infections, he added. The day after US regulators cleared Moderna's coronavirus vaccine to start human testing, Bancel shared with Business Insider his vision for Moderna, stretching far beyond the coronavirus. With its technology platform called messenger RNA, Moderna could respond just as quickly to future outbreaks as well as tackle diseases where no vaccine exists, like Zika and mononucleosis."The speed is one dimension, but the piece that excites me the most about this technology is we can do vaccines that cannot be done using traditional technology," Bancel said."This is where we're going to change the game completely," he added, talking about lowering the cost and shortening timelines of vaccine development.Without a single approved drug or vaccine, Moderna has ridden the potential of its technology into biotech's top ranks. That first fueled the largest biotech IPO in history in December 2018, and now has led Moderna to break the $10 billion valuation mark with a speedy response to this latest outbreak. Its share price has increased about 30% since going public.Hartaj Singh, a biotech analyst at Oppenheimer who covers the company, thinks investors are still getting Moderna's stock at a cheap valuation. Singh said it'll be years before investors fully appreciate the value of Moderna's scientific advances. He compared the company to Genentech, a legendary biotech firm that was a leader in developing antibodies. The Swiss pharma Roche agreed to buy Genentech for $47 billion in 2009.<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e14a69a855cc2560c562ff6-2400/bearwalkmoderna007.jpg" alt="Moderna biotech lab" />ModernaInside Moderna's labs.<h2>'This is not the same game' </h2>Dressed casually in jeans and a sweater with elbow pads, the 47-year-old Bancel politely explained in his French accent a no-handshake policy at Moderna during the outbreak, as he stepped into his office at the Cambridge headquarters. (We tapped feet instead.) While most of Moderna's employees are based in Cambridge, the bulk of the work on a coronavirus vaccine happened about an hour outside in the small town of Norwood, Massachusetts. The company spent about $110 million on the 200,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 2018 and used to be a Polaroid plant.In a matter of weeks, it became a hotbed for developing a coronavirus vaccine as quickly as possible using Moderna's genetics-based platform for vaccine development.At the basic level, vaccines work by giving cells a taste of a virus - just enough for our bodies to recognize it as an intruder and pump out antibodies to fight a similar invasion in the future.For decades, vaccines have traditionally contained a dead or weakened version of the virus itself. Early advances in genetics allowed a vaccine to use just proteins made by the virus. That was first used <a href="https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/vaccine-types">in the 1980s</a> to develop a vaccine for hepatitis B. <img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d3f5df38d664270ea7b58a4-2400/bearwalkmoderna031.jpg" alt="Moderna biotech lab laboratory pharma" />ModernaModerna is also working to develop personalized cancer treatments that are custom-crafted for each individual patient.Moderna has gone a step further back: instead of using viruses or proteins, the platforms works with just the genetic material. The biotech is focused on messenger RNA (mRNA) - the genetic material from DNA that makes proteins. Because of the speed of its platform, Moderna has had the potential to fight infectious disease outbreaks from the company's beginnings in 2011.Part of the speed in responding to the coronavirus came from tapping existing research relationships, Bancel said. Moderna has been working with the NIH for a couple of years on two RNA viruses called Nipah and MERS. MERS, or Middle East Respiratory syndrome, is also caused by a coronavirus.The purpose of the collaboration was obvious: "Chasing a pandemic is really hard if you've done no biology work," Bancel said, "so let's start to work on a few dangerous strains to get moving." Last November, top NIH vaccine officials Dr. John Mascola and Dr. Barney Graham visited Norwood, and discussed the potential to advance some of that research work in 2020 with Moderna.Then the coronavirus began spreading in China, just a few weeks after that visit. On January 10, scientists from Fudan University in Shanghai <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947">posted the genomic sequence</a> of the coronavirus.Teams at the NIH and Moderna both pored over that data, hunting for potential targets. Just three days later, both sides convened - they had independently arrived at the same targets for a prospective vaccine.That preclinical process of finding and selecting a target can take years for traditional vaccines, Bancel said, instead of three days at Moderna."This is not the same game," Bancel said. "We never saw the virus. We don't need to see the virus. What we need is the genetic instruction of the virus."The Moderna team based in Norwood moved quickly: one group of engineers designing the mRNA vaccine candidate, while another group converted an area used for personalized cancer vaccines into a space to pump out the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine. "There were some changes in the process the team had to test on the fly," Bancel said, noting it was the first time the cancer space has been used in this manner. By February 7, the company had completed a first batch of the vaccine. After a couple weeks of quality testing, Moderna sent the first doses to the NIH on February 24 - 42 days from the virus being sequenced to the vaccine being shipped.Walking through the Norwood facility, little tweaks aimed to efficiency stack up into a competitive advantage. The labs are paperless, which expedited a documentation process that usually takes weeks or months to produce a clinical batch. Most of the research space is equipped with what look like security cameras in the corners. These track how researchers move around the space, collecting data that can suggest tweaks to how equipment is mapped out to improve efficiency. Virtually all the equipment in the lab for personalized cancer treatments is on wheels, so that it can be quickly reconfigured into a new layout. Even tiny actions have been sped up, like ordering lab supplies. Buttons are attached to bins storing disposable equipment like gloves. Instead of logging on to Amazon to order more supplies when running low, a researcher can hit the button to trigger an order.<h2>Moderna could make 'millions' of doses of coronavirus vaccine, CEO says</h2>Now, the NIH will lead clinical testing of the vaccine. The first study has just begun to recruit patients, looking to test three dose levels in 45 healthy adults in the US, to see if the vaccine is safe.Future tests would focus on whether the vaccine works, and would involve hundreds to thousands of people.As far as unanswered questions go, the most pressing question is will this vaccine actually work. Right behind that, is what happens next if it is found to be safe and effective. Can a biotech with a fraction of the resources of pharmaceutical giants like J&amp;J or Sanofi produce enough vaccine to make a difference?Bancel said Moderna's Norwood plant could make "millions" of doses in a year, if needed, declining to provide a more specific number. So far, the company has made a few hundred doses for the first small clinical trial underway in Washington state.Juan Andres, the company's chief technical operations and quality officer, said in a presentation to investors last November that the biotech could make 10 million doses per year of a vaccine for a common virus called cytomegalovirus, or CMV, assuming a 100 microgram dose. At that level, it wouldn't affect other ongoing operations at the plant.And if the Norwood site was solely focused on pumping out its CMV vaccine, Andres estimated it could produce 100 million doses per year.In contrast, massive pharmas like J&amp;J and Sanofi have excess capacity to produce hundreds of millions of doses without disrupting other projects, said Carr. The uniqueness of the mRNA platform could pose a challenge to rapidly scaling into mass production, with an external manufacturer having to learn that system.Bancel added that the company is looking into building out more of its Norwood space with equipment to boost its vaccine production capacity, with the biotech intentionally choosing a facility bigger than they are using to have room to grow into.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-ceo-stephane-bancel-interview-coronavirus-vaccine-price-2020-3">Read more: The CEO of the buzzy biotech that's working on a potential coronavirus vaccine just pledged he won't set a high price for the shot</a> Looking beyond coronavirus, Moderna is aiming to apply mRNA to many disease with no approved vaccines in addition to potential future outbreaks. The company has seven vaccines in clinical testing for viruses with no approved vaccine, including Zika and the virus that causes mononucleosis, among others. "We are moving biology to a digital world, where we can work out of a sequence, and we don't invent a molecule," Bancel said. Instead, Moderna is tapping nature's own genetic instructions to do the work.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gilead-clinical-trials-for-coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-2020-2">The $95 billion biotech Gilead just announced plans to test a promising potential coronavirus treatment in 1,000 people</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fda-announces-first-coronavirus-drug-shortage-2020-2">The FDA just announced the first drug shortage caused by the coronavirus, but wouldn't identify the drug</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-treatments-vaccine-jj-regeneron-gilead-2020-2">The US is sprinting to develop a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Here's how 7 top drugmakers are racing to tackle an outbreak that's spreading around the world.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sanofi-researching-coronavirus-vaccine-with-barda-using-sars-vaccine-2020-2">Pharma giant Sanofi is developing a vaccine to fight the deadly coronavirus outbreak using its previous research on SARS</a></li></ul><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5cf6b11111e205471c5718a4" alt="Digital Health Pro" style="width: 100% !important" /></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a>

'Crazy hours, short nights': The inside story of how a buzzy biotech upstart developed a potential coronavirus vaccine in record time

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53dfc901eab8ea5f69dfd633-1826/smallpox-vaccine-in-vial-6.jpg" border="0" alt="Smallpox vaccine in vial" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Havakuk Levison" />REUTERS/Havakuk LevisonMost of us don't get the smallpox vaccine anymore, which means we'd be vulnerable to a bioterrorism attack using the virus.</div></div></div><ul><li>The FDA just approved a drug that could be used to treat smallpox.</li><li> The disease was officially eradicated in 1980, but experts are concerned that people could re-create smallpox and use it as a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/biological-weapons">biological weapon</a>.</li><li>Infectious disease researchers and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/bioterrorism">bioterror</a> experts say the world is unprepared for the emergence or release of a pandemic disease.</li></ul><hr /> On any list of the most <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/deadliest-diseases-prevention-2017-7">devastating diseases humanity has ever had to contend with</a>, smallpox comes in near the top.The contagious and potentially fatal disease is caused by the variola virus. It <a href="http://www.academia.dk/BiologiskAntropologi/Mikrobiologi/PDF/Viruses_Plagues_and_History.pdf">killed approximately 300 million people</a> before mass vaccination campaigns made smallpox the first infectious disease to be eradicated from the wild in 1980.But that doesn't mean it's gone for good.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 13 that it had for the first time approved a drug that could treat smallpox if it were ever released as a weapon in a terrorist attack. The medication is called TPOXX (tecovirimat). "To address the risk of bioterrorism, Congress has taken steps to enable the development and approval of countermeasures to thwart pathogens that could be employed as weapons," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. "Today's approval provides an important milestone in these efforts. This new treatment affords us an additional option should smallpox ever be used as a bioweapon."The potential release of smallpox as a weapon is an extremely concerning scenario; many experts think that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-risk-to-humanity-2017-9">a weaponized form of disease is one of the biggest risks</a> humanity faces.The world isn't ready for that possibility, nor is it primed to respond to a pandemic disease that occurs naturally. That means it's plausible that some sort of deadly pathogen - likely a virus - could spread around the globe.As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warns-the-next-pandemic-disease-is-coming-2018-4">Bill Gates said in a recent talk</a>, world governments are ill prepared for these sorts of scenarios."In the case of biological threats, that sense of urgency is lacking," Gates said. "The world needs to prepare for pandemics in the same serious way it prepares for war."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a3a74bf4aa6b5d3198b5fa5-1778/shutterstock403792792.jpg" border="0" alt="biosafety virus work lab biological weapon" data-mce-source="Shutterstock/Tonhom1009" />Shutterstock/Tonhom1009</div></div></div><h2>The return of smallpox</h2>There are good reasons to be concerned about a potential smallpox release.In theory, only two labs in the world are authorized to possess the variola virus: the CDC in Atlanta, and the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Russia.But more samples of the virus may be out there. In 2014, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/unauthorized-smallpox-specimens-discovered-in-nih-lab-2014-7">vials containing smallpox were found</a> in a cold storage room of an FDA lab at the National Institutes of Health's campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The possibility of an accidental release from that kind of forgotten sample is remote but real.More concerning is the fact that researchers think it wouldn't be difficult for an ill-intentioned actor to create a version of the smallpox virus - even a more dangerous one - in a lab.Now that smallpox has been "eradicated," most people no longer receive a vaccine, meaning the vast majority of the world would be vulnerable to an outbreak.The Department of Defense recently commissioned <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=24890&amp;_ga=2.264774095.1762283079.1530026023-1256261885.1529511670">a report</a> on defense against biological weapons from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24890/biodefense-in-the-age-of-synthetic-biology">report</a>, published in June, said that the re-creation of known pathogenic viruses like smallpox using the techniques of synthetic biology should be of the "highest concern" for the US."The U.S. government should pay close attention to this rapidly progressing field, just as it did to advances in chemistry and physics during the Cold War era," Michael Imperiale, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan and the chair of the committee that wrote the report, <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=24890&amp;_ga=2.264774095.1762283079.1530026023-1256261885.1529511670">said in a statement</a>.Last year, a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-deadly-eradicated-viruses-could-re-emerge-2017-10">Canadian researcher studying synthetic biology demonstrated</a> that it was possible to create pox viruses related to smallpox from scratch using genetic material purchased through the mail.Doing that cost the researcher $100,000 and "did not require exceptional biochemical knowledge or skills, significant funds, or significant time," <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/smallpox/18-ACVVR-Final.pdf?ua=1">according to</a> a World Health Organization report. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/581e515d691e888d008b500a-960/lead960-2.jpg" border="0" alt="ebola virus cell" data-mce-source="National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health" data-mce-caption="Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from an infected cell." />National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of HealthEbola virus particles (blue) budding from an infected cell.</div></div></div><h2>Other dangerous diseases</h2>Weaponized variola is far from the only disease that researchers think could lead to a pandemic.Experts think that if a flu like the 1918 version were to emerge again, it could kill 30 million people within six months. Even scarier flus are possible, too: In <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/our-next-pandemic-could-start-from-within-2014-7">ongoing studies in 2014</a> that were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nih-lifts-ban-on-flu-mers-sars-virus-gain-of-function-research-2017-12">resumed in the past year</a>, scientists demonstrated how the flu virus can be made more deadly. The also showed that deadlier viruses can be engineered to become more contagious.Experts at the CDC and World Health Organization keep <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warns-of-deadly-disease-pandemic-2018-5">lists of the diseases</a> that are most likely to cause a deadly pandemic. Those lists include a number of naturally occurring pathogens, including some that might be turned into biological weapons, like Ebola, Marburg, SARS, anthrax, botulism, plague, tularemia, and smallpox.Experts have also run simulations to see how the world would respond to the intentional release of a pandemic disease. The general consensus has been that humanity would not fare well.In May, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security <a href="http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/about-the-center/pressroom/press_releases/2018-05-15_clade-x-policy-recommendations.html">ran a simulation</a> demonstrating what might happen if a fringe group were to release a modified disease related to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nipah-virus-outbreak-deaths-in-india-2018-5">Nipah virus</a>. An outbreak of the little-known Nipah virus in India in May sickened at least 18 and killed 17 of those infected.In the Johns Hopkins simulation, the modified virus killed more than 150 million people within a year. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-super-earth-2018-6">Super-Earths are real and they could be an even better place for life than Earth</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/9OrTF64m-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

The FDA just approved a drug to treat smallpox in case of a bioterrorism attack - here's why that scenario is so scary

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7fcc33be59f19008b45a0-1778/5516f59269bedd9247343a7b.jpg" alt="pandemic disease ebola" data-mce-source="John Moore/Getty" data-mce-caption="Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staffer Alex Eilert Paulsen watches as mattresses and bed frames burn at the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) on January 31, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia." />John Moore/GettyDoctors Without Borders (MSF) staffer Alex Eilert Paulsen watches as mattresses and bed frames burn at the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) on January 31, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia.</div></div></div><ul><li>The World Health Organization recently updated their blueprint for research that lists the diseases most likely to cause a global pandemic that could kill millions.</li><li>Along with hemorrhagic viruses like Ebola and mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, they added a mysterious new condition: "Disease X."</li><li>Disease X represents the unknown disease that's quite likely to cause the next pandemic.</li></ul><hr />The inescapable truth for those who study disease outbreaks, new viruses, and the spread of illness is a haunting one.The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/disease-dangers-pandemic-influenza-ebola-2017-5">next pandemic is coming</a>.Known, incurable diseases lurk in hidden reservoirs all over the world. Thousands of unknown viruses circulate around the globe. And in labs, both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nih-lifts-ban-on-flu-mers-sars-virus-gain-of-function-research-2017-12">for the sake of experimentation</a> and potentially also for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-risk-to-humanity-2017-9">nefarious purposes</a>, research is conducted on biological agents to see if it's possible to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/plague-biological-weapon-2017-7">make them more deadly</a>.In their <a href="http://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/en/">recent blueprint for research on priority diseases</a> that could cause this pandemic, <a href="http://www.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/en/">the World Health Organization</a> (WHO) added a new potential threat: Disease X."Disease X" stands for the unknown.The rest of the diseases on that list are already-known conditions. These include <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/diseases.html">hemorrhagic fevers</a> like Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, Marburg, Lassa, Rift Valley fever, Nipah, and henipaviral diseases. Other priority illnesses include coronaviruses like MERS and SARS and the mosquito-borne disease Zika.Viruses and bacteria can mutate and become more infectious or deadly (or both), and there's a constant risk that new illnesses could find ways to jump from their hosts to humans.It's likely that whatever pathogen causes the next pandemic, it'll be something we don't know how to react to. And as we've seen when new diseases like Zika first emerge, we're not able to stop these illnesses from rapidly spreading with devastating results.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59b665ee5124c993065dc489-800/china-detains-five-after-unearthing-tonnes-of-pig-carcasses-2017-9.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: A worker walks past pens containing pigs at a farm located on the outskirts of Beijing September 7, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: A worker walks past pens containing pigs at a farm located on the outskirts of Beijing" />Thomson ReutersPigs in a factory farm could pick up a bird virus.</div></div></div><h2>What to expect from an unknown disease</h2>As the WHO's description explains, the disease that turns out to be "Disease X" could be one that we don't yet know is dangerous.Seemingly non-threatening diseases have changed course before. As Dr. Michael Kurilla, director of the Office of Biodefense Research Resources and Translational Research at the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zika-virus-shows-why-emerging-diseases-are-so-dangerous-2016-1">told Business Insider in 2016</a>, for years we thought certain viruses known as coronaviruses were relatively innocuous."But then SARS came around," he said then, referring to the 2002-2003 outbreak of the coronavirus that infected more than 8,000 and killed approximately 10% of those infected. Ten years later came MERS. Both of these ended up on the WHO blueprint for research on diseases that could cause the next pandemic - as did Zika, which until recently hadn't been considered a disease of major concern.A pandemic could also come from a mutated version of an existing pathogen.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5aa821db3be59f1e008b474a-600/165-ww-269b-5-nurse-l.jpg" alt="1918 pandemic" data-mce-source="National Archives" data-link="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/records-list.html" /><a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/records-list.html">National Archives</a>It's almost certain that we'll eventually see a disease like the 1918 pandemic influenza that was one of the deadliest events in human history.</div></div></div><h2>A deadly flu</h2>A mutated flu has long been a contender for the source of our next pandemic, according to virologists and epidemiologists."We are coming up on the centenary of the 1918 influenza pandemic," George Poste, a member of the <a href="http://www.biodefensestudy.org/">Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense</a>, a group created to assess the state of biodefense in the US, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-risk-to-humanity-2017-9">previously told Business Insider</a>. "We've been fortunately spared anything on that scale for the past 100 years, but it is inevitable that a pandemic strain of equal virulence will emerge."Writing in the Daily Mail, Dr. Jonathan Quick, a faculty member of Harvard Medical School and chair of the Global Health Council, recently said that our factory farm system could be the perfect incubator for a pandemic flu. There are thousands of close-together pigs potentially exposed to chickens or wild birds, which creates the perfect opportunity for a bird flu to acquire the genes needed to start infecting mammals like pigs - and humans."The renegade influenza viruses they spawn could one day annihilate the people they feed," <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5465241/Why-believe-killer-flu-pandemic-just-corner.html">he wrote</a>.And there's always the possibility that someone intentionally could create and spread a pandemic disease. That's the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-risk-to-humanity-2017-9">scariest global disaster that Melinda Gates can imagine</a> happening within the next ten years, she recently said in an interview at South By Southwest.For preparations sake, she said we should have the equivalent of a disease-monitoring organization like the CDC solely focused on bioterrorism.As journalist David Quammen explained in his book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pandemic/dp/0393066800?tag=bisafetynet2-20">Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic</a>," a deadly new virus will inevitably appear: "If you're a thriving population, living at high density but exposed to new bugs, it's just a matter of time until the [Next Big One] arrives." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-diamandis-how-silicon-valley-can-make-100-new-60-2018-2">What Silicon Valley is doing to make humans live longer</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/kPPOD3rk-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

You Searched For "nipah virus treatment" and got 9 results

Kerala govt strengthens measures to prevent spread of Nipah virus

PTI

Nipah virus — All you need to know about symptoms, treatment and precautions

Vaamanaa Sethi

All you need to know about Nipah Virus Symptoms and Treatment

BI India Bureau

A rare virus carried by fruit bats may have just started to spread in India

BI India Bureau

Beyond COVID-19 vaccines, mRNA's pioneers have big plans for using the technology against a range of diseases

Andrew Dunn

What Is Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (Chamki Fever) - All you need to know

BI India Bureau

'Crazy hours, short nights': The inside story of how a buzzy biotech upstart developed a potential coronavirus vaccine in record time

Andrew Dunn

The FDA just approved a drug to treat smallpox in case of a bioterrorism attack - here's why that scenario is so scary

Kevin Loria

The World Health Organization has listed 'Disease X' as the next potential pandemic - here's how worried you should be

Kevin Loria