THE HINDU

14 Sunday, September 17, 2023

SCIENCE
Delhi

Over 75% of European bumblebee species threatened

@currentscenario
SNAPSHOTS
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The Hindu Bureau
More than 75% of Euro­
pean bumblebee species
may be threatened in the
next 40­60 years according
to worst­case­scenario pro­
jections of bumblebee
populations, according to a
paper published in Nature.
Degradation of habitats
and alterations of climate
due to human activity are
identified as key drivers of
these estimated popula­
tion declines.
The findings underscore
the importance of climate
change mitigation policies
to protect bumblebees.
Key drivers of wildlife
“Our results underline the
critical role of globa­
l change mitigation policies
as effective levers to pro­
tect bumblebees from
manmade transformation
of the biosphere,” the auth­
ors write. Around 90% of
all wild plants and most
crop plants benefit from
pollination by animals. The
bumblebee (Bombus) is a
genus of bees considered
to be especially important
for the pollination of crops
in the cold and temperate
regions of the northern he­
misphere.
Human­generated trans­
formations of natural habi­
tats and increases in tem­
perature are implicated as
key drivers of wildlife col­
lapse; understanding the
trajectory of insect popula­
tions is important for de­
vising conservation efforts.
Guillaume Ghisbain
from Université Libre de
Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgi­
um and others quantify
past, present and future
ecological suitability of Eu­
rope for bumblebees. Ob­
servational data cover the
periods 1901­1970 (past)
and 2000­2014 (‘present
day’), and projections are
made up to 2080. Around
38­76% of European bum­
blebee species currently
considered as non­threa­
tened are projected to see
their ecologically suitable
territory shrink by at least
30% by 2061­2080.
In particular, species
from Arctic and alpine en­
vironments may be at the
verge of extinction in Eu­
rope, with an expected loss
of at least 90% of their ter­
ritory in the same period.
The authors report that
parts of Scandinavia may
potentially become refuges
for displaced or threatened
species, although it re­
mains unclear whether
these regions may be af­
fected by human activity­
driven changes.
In songbirds, complex vocal
learning predicts brain size

Why Nipah virus outbreaks are

Vocal learning complexity, or the ability to
imitate sounds, is associated with better
problem­solving abilities and larger brains in
songbird species, a study found. Whether vocal

occurring only in Kerala

learning complexity was linked with such
cognitive phenotypes was previously unknown.
Complex vocal learning is a crucial component of
human spoken language and has been assumed
@currentscenario to be associated with advanced cognitive abilities.
With fruit bats positive for Nipah virus antibodies seen in other States, it is likely that Nipah virus infection and deaths may Outside of humans, it has been observed in a
small number of taxa, including songbirds.
be going undetected in other States while they get picked up in Kerala, especially in Kozhikode district

R. Prasad admitted with unusual

symptoms about two @currentscenario
ince May 2018 weeks after the death of

S when Kerala re­

ported the first Ni­
pah outbreak in
Kozhikode district, there
have been three more out­
breaks of Nipah virus in­
cluding the latest one in
late­August 2023. For rea­
sons still not known, three
of the four Nipah out­
breaks in Kerala in 2018,
2021 and 2023 have been in
Kozhikode district; the
2019 outbreak was in Er­
nakulam district. Even five
years after the first out­
break, and four outbreaks
in all, it is still unclear why
three of the four outbreaks
have been in Kozhikode
district in Kerala. Fruit bats
that can cause Nipah virus
outbreaks in humans are
not restricted to Kozhikode
district.
As per a 2021 study, Ni­
pah virus was found to be
in circulation in fruit bats
(Pteropus species) in “ma­
ny districts” in Kerala. An
ongoing survey in 14 States
by NIV Pune has found Ni­
pah virus antibodies in
fruit bats (Pteropus medius)
in nine States, including
Kerala, and the Union Ter­
ritory of Pondicherry.
While date palm sap was
linked to Nipah virus out­
breaks in Bangladesh, and
pigs acting as intermediate
hosts were responsible for
Nipah outbreaks in Malay­
sia, the route of virus trans­
mission from bats to hu­
mans has not been clearly
established in Kerala.
The four outbreaks in
five years may be because
the virus has either be­
come endemic in bats in
Kerala or is a reflection of
Kerala’s superior health­
care system that thorough­
ly investigates undiag­
nosed fever cases for
possible Nipah virus infec­
tion or both. However,
with fruit bats positive for
Nipah virus antibodies be­
ing found in other States, it
is likely that Nipah virus in­
fection and deaths may be
going undetected in other
States while they get
picked up in Kerala, espe­
cially in Kozhikode district.
“Whenever we have un­
diagnosed fever cases, a
team involving virologists
is formed and we under­
take a detailed investiga­
tion which helps us diag­
nose Nipah virus and other
new virus outbreaks early.
In other States, Nipah cas­
es might be going unde­
tected,” says Dr. Anoop Ku­
mar A.S., Director of
Critical Care Medicine,
North Kerala Cluster, Aster
MIMS Calicut, Kerala. Dr.
Kumar played a pivotal
role in detecting the Nipah
virus outbreak in Kerala in
2018 and 2023.
In the 2019 and 2021
outbreak, there was only a
single case without any hu­
man­to­human transmis­
sion. “Nipah virus infec­
tion and deaths might have
happened in different
parts of India in people
with undiagnosed fever,
which might have gone un­
detected. Also, there is no
Nipah testing facility
anywhere in India except
NIV Pune. Only Kerala
screens for Nipah virus
routinely in a molecular
lab in Calicut Medical Col­
lege,” he says. “While oth­
er States may not be rou­
tinely sending samples for
Nipah virus testing, we test
for Nipah whenever there
are cases with unusual
symptoms. That might be
the reason why Kerala is
detecting Nipah cases.”
Usually, people with Ni­
pah virus infection present
with encephalitic symp­
toms. But in the latest out­
break, patients presented
with pure respiratory
symptoms, not reported
anywhere in the world be­
fore. “But we could still
identify them as Nipah on­
ly because we have a high
index of suspicion,” says
Dr. Kumar. In 2018 and in
2023, the index case had
died with encephalitis in
2018 and severe pneumo­
nia in 2023 that went un­
noticed. In 2018, a cluster
formed and Nipah virus
was diagnosed among
three contacts who were
the index case. “There was
a [possible] index case,
clustering and unusual
symptoms seen in the con­
tacts. There was a high in­
dex of suspicion and that
led us to diagnose Nipah vi­
rus in 2018,” recalls Dr. Ku­
mar. In the latest outbreak,
there was a death in anoth­
er hospital in Kozhikode ci­
ty on August 30 and four of
New neural network enables
the family members deve­ autonomous drone to race
loped unusual symptoms
on September 9 and were A new neural network system enabled
admitted two days later at autonomous drones to race at velocities of up to
Aster MIMS Calicut. Nipah 108 km per hour, beating counterparts piloted by
virus was diagnosed the ve­ competitive human drone racers on the same
ry next day after admis­ aerial racetrack. The work emphasises the value
sion. of reinforcement learning as a training method
“We noticed a clustering over other optimal control methods, which
of cases after the death of researchers considered just as useful for agile
the person. During a de­ autonomous flight. Autonomous drones require
tailed history taking we control systems that enable adaptable movement
came to know that the per­ and split­second decision­making during flight.
son who died had unusual
symptoms. And the family
was from a locality quite
close (10­15 km) to the 2018
outbreak epicentre. There @currentscenario
was a high index of suspi­
cion of a new emerging vi­
rus or Nipah due to the
combination of a [possible]
index case, clustering of
cases, unusual symptoms
and proximity to the first
outbreak epicentre. So we
first tested for Nipah vi­
rus,” he says. At the time
the deaths happened in
the index case in 2018 and
2023, Nipah virus was not
Solar­powered microfliers
diagnosed. In 2019 and gather environmental data
2021, only a single case was
detected (ending in death A new design for solar­powered, origami­based
in 2021 unlike in 2019). microfliers — robotic designs that float like seeds
This raises the possibility — supports more effective collection and
of several people getting transmission of environmental data. In outdoor
infected with Nipah virus tests, these microfliers dynamically changed
and even dying without a shape after dropping from drones, gliding and
diagnosis in other parts of gathering details about air pressure and
Kerala and other States, es­ temperature during their descent. They
pecially when only one or transmitted these data to nearby Bluetooth
a few cases occur, he says. receivers for record keeping.

Evasive nutritional support for TB patients

The Hindu Bureau
Undernutrition is the leading
risk factor for TB disease. In
2019, Preeti Sudan, Secretary
in the Health Ministry noted
letter that undernutrition at
the population level contri­
butes to 55% of annual TB inci­
dence in India.
A 2022 study noted that
45% of people in India are un­
dernourished, accounting for
nearly 1.2 million TB cases
each year. Yet, nutrition sup­
port became a part of the na­
tional TB programme only in
April 2018 when Nikshay
Poshan Yojana — a direct be­
nefit transfer (DBT) scheme
for nutritional support to TB
patients — was launched. Un­
der this programme, ₹500 per
month is credited into the ac­
count of a person with TB for
the duration of treatment.
In September 2022, India
launched another nutrition
support programme called Ni­
kshay Mitra to consented TB
patients. And in 2022, Tamil
Nadu became the first and on­
ly State to launch the Differen­
tiated TB Care programme to
reduce the mortality rate
among TB patients. Severe un­
dernutrition is one of the
three parameters used for
triaging TB patients at the
time of diagnosis.
During triaging as part of
the Differentiated TB Care
programme, it became evi­
dent that 52% of notified TB
patients in Tamil Nadu had
undernutrition, and 25% had
severe undernutrition. If un­
dernutrition among TB pa­
tients is so high even in Tamil
Nadu, the situation might be
far worse in many northern
States which have higher le­
vels of undernutrition in the
general population.
All the three initiatives pro­
vide nutrition support only to
TB patients to reduce mortali­
ty and not to the family mem­
bers also to prevent TB dis­
ease. The nutrition status of
TB patients at the time of diag­
nosis is largely a reflection of
the family’s nutrition level.
The 2017 guidance document
@currentscenario
Huge: Undernourishment causes nearly 1.2 million TB cases each year in
India. AP
on nutritional care and sup­
port for patients with TB in In­
dia had recommended that
the family members are pro­
vided with a “food basket as
they likely to be food inse­
cure, chronically energy defi­
cient and at high risk of con­
tracting TB”. This is yet to
become a reality.
The RATIONS trial in Jhark­
hand has underscored the im­
portance of providing nutri­
tion support to family
members to prevent TB dis­
ease. In the trial, TB disease
among household contacts
was prevented in 39% (all
forms of TB) to 48% (pulmon­
ary TB) through nutritional
support.
Nikshay Poshan Yojana
As per the India TB report
2023, of the 2.4 million noti­
fied TB cases, only 1.6 million
(66%) received at least one
month’s payment in 2022 un­
der the Ni­kshay Poshan Yoja­
na programme. There has
been very little increase in the
Question Corner
number of beneficiaries in the
last three years. For instance,
in 2021, only 62.1% of the 2.1
million notified cases in India
Keeping it at bay
received at least one payment. Is it possible to reduce linked with a lower risk of
In 2020 too, only 62% of noti­ the risk of depression? depression. Of all of these ,
fied TB cases received at least having a good night’s sleep
one month payment. A healthy lifestyle that made the biggest
A January 2022 retrospec­ involves moderate alcohol difference, reducing the
tive cohort study carried out consumption, a healthy risk of depression by 22%.
during January­September diet, regular physical Frequent social
2019 among 426 patients activity, healthy sleep and connection, reduced the
found that the assistance was frequent social risk of depression by 18%
not reaching the poorest connection, while avoiding and was the most
among the poor who need nu­ smoking and too much protective against
tritional support the most due sedentary behaviour, depressive disorder.
to the lack of basic docu­ reduces the risk of Moderate alcohol
ments. The study also record­ depression, new research consumption decreased
ed a delay of 56 days to receive has found (Nature Mental the risk of depression by
the first instalment. Also, 49% Health). To better 11%, healthy diet by 6%,
of patients received the last in­ understand the regular physical activity by
stalment after treatment com­ relationship between these 14%, never smoking by
pletion. TB patients perceived factors and depression, the 20%, and low­to­moderate
the assistance provided under researchers turned to the sedentary behaviour by
the Ni­kshay Poshan Yojana U.K. Biobank. By 13%.
programme was “insufficient examining data over a
to buy nutritious food nine­year period, the team
Readers may send their questions /
throughout the course of was able to identify seven answers to
treatment”. healthy lifestyle factors questioncorner@thehindu.co.in