The public has been advised to avoid contact with wild rodents or any wild animals, to properly dispose of trash, to avoid camping near rodent droppings, burrows, nests, and to avoid treating dust when cleaning rodent-infested areas by first wetting the areas with bleach. The increase of these diseases has been attributed to the influx of refugees from zones in the former Soviet Central Asian republics and soldiers returning from 'hot spots' in the former republics. Other contributing factors include unsanitary conditions, declining social standards, and the absence of a vaccination program. According to the joint US-Thai Funded Armed Forces Institute of Medical Sciences, the tropical disease typhus can suppress HIV to undetectable levels. The study revealed a significant drop in virus count among AIDS patients after a case of scrub typhus, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease.
Scrub typhus is common in east Asia and the west Pacific.
Scientists believe that this discovery will contribute to the development of an inexpensive HIV-AIDS treatment. The proportion of cases prevented by intervention was approximately 0.8. The discovery proves that bats are carriers or reservoirs of the virus. Antibodies against Nipah have also been found in other species of fruit bats. The virus has also been known to infect dogs, cats, and horses.