Unmasking Nipah Virus: Public knowledge and Attitude Towards a Growing “Health Threat”

Nipah virus (NiV) was first discovered in 1999 following an outbreak of disease in pigs and people in Malaysia and Singapore. The recent outbreak resulted in nearly three hundred human cases and more than one hundred deaths and caused substantial economic impact as more than one million pigs were killed to help control the outbreak. Providing health information during disease outbreaks is a fundamental component of outbreak control strategies. This study aimed to identify the importance of providing information that increases community health awareness on personal hygiene, safety measures and reduce fear of the spread of disease15-item questionnaire was designed de novo and emailed to the selected public after telephone contact. The response choices were never open ended, either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘do not know,’ while one response was in a Likert scale of 1–5. Of the one hundred emailed questionnaires, eighty-four were returned eligible to be included for analysis (84% response rate). Majority of the responders were of the female gender (74%). Overall, only 48% of the responders knew the causative organism of the illness, while they were divided in their opinion regarding the mode of transmission of the disease.