The virus — called Nipah — kills more than half of the people it infects. Nipah virus, which was named after the village in Malaysia where the first known patient lived, is part of the same family of viruses as measles. Nipah is a zoonotic virus, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans. Nipah outbreaks happen nearly every year in parts of Asia, often in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, with Bangladesh recording the highest number of infections. Nipah virus has also been found in bats from China, Cambodia, Thailand, Madagascar and Ghana.