Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Unified approach: On the Nipah outbreak in Kerala and a One Health approach

Unified approach: On the Nipah outbreak in Kerala and a One Health approach

An integrated approach to health can prevent zoonotic spillover

Lightning is unlikely (असम्भव) to strike the same place twice, but the Nipah virus (a zoonotic virus (meaning that it can spread from animals to humans)and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. Fruit bats, also called flying foxes are the natural host of Nipah virus. Nipah virus is also known to cause illness in pigs and people. Infection with NiV is associated with encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and can cause mild to severe illness and even death) is again wreaking havoc (to cause a lot of damage; to bring about a widespread destruction; to give rise to a lot of trouble) in Kozhikode, the fourth outbreak (प्रकोप) of the disease in Kerala over the last five years. Caused by a zoonotic (used to refer to a disease transmitted from (vertebrate) animals to humans) spillover (consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one)), the transmission of pathogens (रोगज़नक़, रोगाणु) from animals to humans, the closest reservoir (source /stock, store, reserve) of the virus is fruit bats (a large flying mammal (with large wings) that eats fruit and lives in hot countries; it is also called as flying fox). With two persons dying of Nipah this week in Kozhikode, and three more persons, two of them relatives of one of the victims, testing positive, and being hospitalised, disturbing memories from the terrifying outbreak of 2018, in which 21 of 23 infected people died, have surfaced (emerge, arise, appear, come out, crop up, loom). The situation remains very much the same, in terms of (के अनुसार, संबंध में) treatment options: there is no cure, and supportive care remains the only way to handle Nipah infection even in a hospital setting (surroundings, situation, environment, background, location). Kerala’s Health Minister Veena George said hundreds of people on the contact list of the deceased (a person who is dead/passed away) had been put under medical observation. One of them, a nine-year-old child, is on ventilator (a respirator, a device (used for a patient to breathe)) support. A control room has been opened in Kozhikode to monitor the situation, and all the hospitals in the district would be asked to follow infection control protocols (procedure, convention, rules of conduct, procedure). Sixteen teams have been formed to take forward (आगे बढ़ना) appropriate containment (रोकथाम) protocols. A central team has also been sent to Kerala to assist the State government. Neighbouring (पड़ोसी, निकटवर्ती) States have taken preparatory (प्रारंभिक, शुरूआती) steps to ensure that porous (not secured; penetrable, permeable, open, leaky) borders do not bring the infection across from Kerala. The State’s Chief Minister assured the people via a video message that the State was taking the issue very seriously.

While experiences from the prior outbreaks (2018, 2019, 2021) have given medical teams a toolkit (a document containing a set of details/resources/guidelines/suggestions/various urgent action items about something in order to get it done) of protocols, across the sectors — management, isolation, containment, and treatment — constant vigil (close watch, monitoring, surveillance, observation, inspection, scrutiny) can be the only guard (बचाव, रक्षक) against such outbreaks. The biggest lesson though, from global outbreaks, is likely (संभावित) unlearnt (forgotten, lost, missed, disremembered, ignored, neglected, disregarded, discarded) yet. Research has shown that anthropogenic (human-caused, human-influenced, human-induced, man made, artificial) activity has a definite hand to play in zoonotic spillovers. In the case of Nipah, rapid expansion of agricultural activity in original habitat (प्राकृतिक वास, प्राकृतिक वातावरण) zones of the fruit bats has repeatedly (बार-बार, लगातार) shown up on post-factor (after the event has occurred) analyses. As governments mount (increase) strategic (रणनीतिक) efforts to control outbreaks and deaths due to infectious diseases, it is increasingly clear that the State (राज्य, सरकार) needs to initiate a One Health approach (एक स्वास्थ्य दृष्टिकोण) on the way forward (something (a plan/action) that leads to success in the future). The COVID-19 pandemic (the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area) has led to a deeper appreciation (acknowledgement, recognition, realization, understanding, awareness) of the One Health concept, which is an integrated, unifying approach to balancing and optimising (make the most effective use of something) the health of people, animals and the environment, with the conviction (belief, opinion, view, thought) that humans live in symbiosis (a mutually beneficial relationship; mutualism, collaboration, synergy, reciprocity, unison) and that the health of one impacts that of another significantly.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.outbreak (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रकोप
English Meaning - outburst, flaring up, breakout, sudden appearance/occurrence of something.

2.‘One Health’ approach (noun)

Hindi Meaning - एक स्वास्थ्य दृष्टिकोण
English Meaning - One Health is a holistic approach to problems that recognises the interconnections between the health of humans, animals, plants, and their shared environment. ‘One Health’ is an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes.

3.unlikely (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - असम्भव
English Meaning - doubtful, implausible, improbable, questionable.

4.pathogen (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रोगज़नक़, रोगाणु
English Meaning - something, like bacteria/virus, that causes disease.

5.in terms of (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के अनुसार, संबंध में
English Meaning - with regard to, regarding, concerning, in respect of, with reference to.

6.take forward (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - आगे बढ़ना
English Meaning - to deal with something and make it successful in the future.

7.containment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रोकथाम
English Meaning - an act of keeping something (harmful) under control. (it means quickly identifying cases of a contagious disease (e.g. coronavirus) through testing, placing infected individuals in isolation, tracking who infected persons might have been in contact with and potentially quarantining those who came into contact with infection so that the disease doesn’t continue to spread).

8.neighbouring (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - पड़ोसी, निकटवर्ती
English Meaning - adjacent, bordering, abutting, surrounding; nearby.

9.preparatory (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रारंभिक, शुरूआती
English Meaning - preliminary, fundamental, initial, introductory, basic, elementary.

10.guard (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बचाव, रक्षक
English Meaning - protection.

11.likely (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - संभावित
English Meaning - probably, in all probability, presumably, doubtlessly.

12.habitat (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्राकृतिक वास, प्राकृतिक वातावरण
English Meaning - natural environment, territory, surroundings.

13.repeatedly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - बार-बार, लगातार
English Meaning - invariably, constantly, regularly, consistently.

14.strategic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - रणनीतिक
English Meaning - relating to achieving long-term or overall goals.

15.the state (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राज्य, सरकार
English Meaning - the government.

16.Nipah virus (NiV) (noun)

English Meaning - a zoonotic virus (meaning that it can spread from animals to humans)and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. Fruit bats, also called flying foxes are the natural host of Nipah virus. Nipah virus is also known to cause illness in pigs and people. Infection with NiV is associated with encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and can cause mild to severe illness and even death.

17.zoonotic (adjective)

English Meaning - used to refer to a disease transmitted from (vertebrate) animals to humans.

18.spillover (noun)

English Meaning - consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one).

19.lightning never strikes the same place twice (phrase)

English Meaning - used to comfort someone that whatever bad or unpleasant thing has happened to him/her, it won’t happen again.

20.wreak havoc (phrase)

English Meaning - to cause a lot of damage; to bring about a widespread destruction; to give rise to a lot of trouble.

21.reservoir (noun)

English Meaning - source /stock, store, reserve.

22.fruit bat (noun)

English Meaning - a large flying mammal (with large wings) that eats fruit and lives in hot countries; it is also called as flying fox.

23.surface (verb)

English Meaning - emerge, arise, appear, come out, crop up, loom.

24.setting (noun)

English Meaning - surroundings, situation, environment, background, location.

25.the deceased (noun)

English Meaning - a person who is dead/passed away.

26.ventilator (noun)

English Meaning - a respirator, a device (used for a patient to breathe).

27.protocol (noun)

English Meaning - procedure, convention, rules of conduct, procedure.

28.porous (adjective)

English Meaning - not secured; penetrable, permeable, open, leaky.

29.toolkit (noun)

English Meaning - a document containing a set of details/resources/guidelines/suggestions/various urgent action items about something in order to get it done.

30.vigil (noun)

English Meaning - close watch, monitoring, surveillance, observation, inspection, scrutiny.

31.unlearnt (adjective)

English Meaning - forgotten, lost, missed, disremembered, ignored, neglected, disregarded, discarded.

32.anthropogenic (adjective)

English Meaning - human-caused, human-influenced, human-induced, man made, artificial.

33.have a hand in something (phrase)

English Meaning - to be involved in doing something; to have influence on something.

34.post-factor (adjective)

English Meaning - after the event has occurred.

35.mount (verb)

English Meaning - increase.

36.increasingly (adverb)

English Meaning - more and more, steadily more, continuously more, gradually more.

37.the way forward (phrase)

English Meaning - something (a plan/action) that leads to success in the future.

38.pandemic (noun)

English Meaning - the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.

39.led to past participle of lead to (verb)

English Meaning - cause, result in, bring about, bring on, give rise to.

40.deeper comparative adjective of deep (adjective)

English Meaning - intense, serious.

41.appreciation (noun)

English Meaning - acknowledgement, recognition, realization, understanding, awareness.

42.optimise (verb)

English Meaning - make the most effective use of something.

43.conviction (noun)

English Meaning - belief, opinion, view, thought.

44.symbiosis (noun)

English Meaning - a mutually beneficial relationship; mutualism, collaboration, synergy, reciprocity, unison.