Epidemiology of Nipah Virus

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — AP/IB College

Used In

2 BioInteractive Playlists

Favorited By

11 Users

Description

This activity complements the video Virus Hunter: Monitoring Nipah Virus in Bat Populations. Students explore cases of Nipah virus infection, analyze evidence, and make calculations and predictions based on data.

Students assume the role of epidemiologists analyzing real data from an outbreak of Nipah virus in Malaysia, attempting to identify the reservoir of the virus and curtail the outbreak. Students will make predictions, perform calculations, adapt to new information, and make recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets

Use appropriate scientific terms, including “reservoir” and “spill over,” in describing a disease outbreak.
Synthesize information about antigens and antibodies with knowledge about enzymes to understand enzyme immunoassay technology.
Use information collected in case studies to distill complex, real-world data, and perform basic calculations to make decisions on the spread of Nipah in those cases.

Details

Estimated Time

One 50-minute class period; however, any of the five parts may be assigned as homework.

Key Terms

bat, ELISA, epidemiology, immunology, infectious disease, outbreak, public health, virus

Primary Literature

Luby, Stephen P., M. Jahangir Hossain, Emily S. Gurley, Be-Nazir Ahmed, Shakila Banu, Salah Uddin Khan, Nusrat Homaira, et al. “Recurrent Zoonotic Transmission of Nipah Virus into Humans, Bangladesh, 2001–2007.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 15, 8 (2009): 1229–1235. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1508.081237.

Parashar, Umesh D., Lye Munn Sunn, Flora Ong, Anthony W. Mounts, Mohamad Taha Arif, Thomas G. Ksiazek, Muhammad A. Kamaluddin, et al. “Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Human Infection with a New Zoonotic Paramyxovirus, Nipah Virus, during a 1998–1999 Outbreak of Severe Encephalitis in Malaysia.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases 181, 5 (2000): 1755–1759. https://doi.org/10.1086/315457.

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Accessibility Level

The documents for this resource meet accessibility standards in accordance with the final rule for Section 508 of the National Rehabilitation Act.

Version History

Date Published 10.16.17