Nipah Virus

"Rapid urbanisation in India accelerates human encroachment into animal habitats whilst a new strain of the Nipah Virus spreads fast through fruit bat colonies. Genetic crossover with other species of the Henipavirus genus could enable enhanced cross-species transmission - resulting in a Contagion worthy of Hollywood. Could this be the most deadly Nipah outbreak ever?" — Plague Inc., Nipah Virus introduction paragraph.

Nipah Virus is an official scenario involving the control of a zoonotic virus inhabiting several bat colonies around India, characterized as a new strain of Henipavirus, which has symptoms that cause ocular discomfort and respiratory problems.

Nipah Virus was introduced as part of the Evolution 7 Beta for the PC version of Plague Inc.:Evolved, while for mobile devices it was introduced as part of Mutation 8.

Scenario Attributes

The player controls a Virus whose default name is "Nipah". It automatically starts in India with Bat 1 and Nipah Virus already evolved. No Symptoms can be unlocked until either Bat 2 or Swine 1 are evolved.

Transmissions

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  Bat 1 - 4: Virus infects bats, increasing infectivity in Hot and Humid Countries.
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  Swine 1 - 3: Virus infects pigs, increasing infectivity in Rural Countries.
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  Fomites 1 - 3: Virus spreads through surfaces. Increases infectivity in Urban and Rich Countries.
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  Horse 1 - 2: Virus infects horses, increasing infectivity in Rural and Arid Countries, along with Land Transmission.
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  Dog: Virus infects dogs, increasing infectivity in Urban Countries.

Symptoms

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  Nausea: Irritated stomach lining leads to discomfort. Slight chance of infection when kissing.
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  Coughing: Chance of infection by spreading pathogen into surroundings, especially in high density, urban areas.
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  Dysphagia: Difficulty swallowing causes occasional coughing when eating. Slight increase in infectivity.
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  Headache: Disturbance of the pain-sensitive structures around the brain. Reduces concentration.
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  Photophobia: Discomfort to the eyes due to light exposure. Increasingly severe in sunnier locations.
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  Drowsiness: Patients find themselves in a constant state of drowsiness. Research scientists are slightly less productive.
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  Vomiting: The expulsion of infected material through projectile vomiting increases the risk of infection.
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  Sneezing: Fluid discharge through sneezing greatly increases infection rates.
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  Dyspnea: Shortness of breath creates difficulty breathing, especially in arid locations. Occasionally fatal with extreme exercise.
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  Nuchal Rigidity: Minor muscle spasms prevent flexing of the neck due to increased rigidity of surrounding muscle.
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  Blurred Vision: Lack of sharpness of vision results in the inability to see fine detail.
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  Confusion: Dopamine production stimulated to cause bouts of confusion. Harder to concentrate on complex work.
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  Pulmonary Oedema: Potentially fatal heart abnormality causes breakdown of respiratory system, releasing pathogen into the air.
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  Pulmonary Fibrosis: Scarring of the lungs causes shortness of breath and extreme coughing. Can be fatal when combined with intense exercise.
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  Tachycardia: Resting heart rate is consistently above 100 beats per minute, putting undue pressure on the heart. can be fatal with older patients.
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  Fever: Increase in temperature, contagiousness and severe dehydration, which can be fatal.
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  Hallucinations: Occipital lesions created, causing severe hallucinations. Significantly harder to cure and can be fatal.
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  Memory Loss: Neuritic plaques deposited on grey matter significantly impact memory and learning. Research doctors lose progress.
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  Haemoptysis: Patients cough up bright-red, foamy blood from the respiratory tract. Increasingly infectious, particularly in urban environments.
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  Pulmonary Hypertension: Blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries is elevated, exerting more pressure on the heart. Can be fatal when combined with exercise.
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  Seizures: Random blackouts and fits reduce the patient's ability to function independently. Can be fatal.
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  Pulmonary Haemorrhage: Severe bleeding in the upper respiratory tract and the trachea. Increasing infectivity and often fatal.
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  Respiratory Failure: Severe hypoxemia leads to catastrophic respiratory failure and death.
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  Coma: Neuropathic effects in the brain stem cause loss of consciousness and sometimes death. Significantly harder to cure.
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  Meningitis: Acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering of the brain and spinal cord. Highly fatal.
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  Encephalitis: Multiple inflammatory lesions in the brain triggered. Causes neurological damage resulting in death.

Abilities

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  Heat Resistance 1 - 2: Virus withstands higher temperatures easily, increasing Infectivity in Hot Countries.
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  Cold Resistance 1 - 2: Virus withstands lower temperatures easily, increasing Infectivity in Cold Countries.
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  Environmental Hardening: Pathogen develops hardened coating - becoming highly weather resistant and extremely comfortable in both hot and cold climates
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  Drug Resistance 1 - 2: Virus resistant to all Antibiotics, increasing Infectivity in Rich Countries.
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  Genetic ReShuffle 1 - 3: Virus reassembles its DNA and creates new strains, increasing the work required for a cure.
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  Genetic Hardening 1 - 2: Virus harder to analyze in laboratories, increasing the work required for a cure.
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  Hendra Traits: Pathogen develops traits of the equine Hendra virus, increasing selection of host animals.
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  Nipah Virus: A new strain of the Nipah Virus that spreads harmlessly through bats, with the potential to spread to humans.
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  Cedar Traits: Pathogen develops traits of the benign Cedar Virus. Allows virus to survive away from a host, but more likely to be cured.
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  Encephalitic Shift: Gain ability to cause severe neurological symptoms.
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  Respiratory Shift: Gain ability to cause severe pathological conditions in the lungs.

Trivia

Related Articles

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Kim Shardakian • Lude Jaw

• India is still a rural country in this scenario instead of urban, despite the description.
• This is the one of the first scenarios, along with the Frozen Virus, to have achievements unique to it other than its completion achievement (i.e. Call PETA, Who needs Science, Contagion Cancelled).

• Nipah Virus was introduced in the Mutation 1.8 update for Mobile and 1.7 for PC on May 20, 2014.

• According to James Vaughan, this scenario and its various attributes refer to the, 2011 film Contagion, with a couple of inconsistencies:
  • The contagion actually began in China when a Bat gets disturbed by a Bulldozer while destroying their habitats before spreading it to a Banana. A pig who ate the infected fruit was contaminated and slaughtered, spreading it to a chef who prepared pork off it. The chef then transmits the virus to Beth Emhoff, starting a devastating chain reaction.

Achievements

	Achievement Name:		Complete Nipah Virus
	Achievement Description:		Score 3 biohazards the Nipah Virus scenario
	Value:		Difficulty:	Any