The southern state of Kerala in India has taken swift action to control the spread of the rare and deadly Nipah virus, resulting in the closure of some schools, offices, and public transport.
Two people have sadly lost their lives to the virus, with one adult and one child currently hospitalized.
Over 130 individuals have been tested for the virus, which spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs, or humans, according to a state health official.
Kerala’s Health Minister, Veena George, explained that the virus detected in Kerala is the Bangladesh variant, which can be transmitted from human to human with a high mortality rate.
However, it has a history of being less infectious.
To contain the situation, restrictions on public movement have been implemented in certain parts of the state.
This outbreak marks the fourth occurrence of the virus in Kerala since 2018, prompting authorities to establish containment zones in at least seven villages within the Kozhikode district.
Stringent isolation measures are being enforced, and medical staff who have come into contact with infected individuals are also being quarantined.
The first person affected by the virus was a small-scale farmer in the village of Marutonkara, where he grew bananas and areca nuts.
Health officials have been diligently tracing the movements of this victim to identify potential interactions and places visited before his health began to deteriorate.
His daughter and brother-in-law, who were also infected, are now in isolation, while other family members and neighbors are undergoing testing.
The second death was linked to contact with the first victim in a hospital setting, although they were not related.
Federal teams, including experts from the National Virology Institute, have arrived to conduct further tests and study the fruit bat population in the affected villages.
The Nipah virus was first discovered in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers and individuals closely associated with animals in Malaysia and Singapore.
Outbreaks of the virus are sporadic, and past infections in South Asia have occurred when people consumed date palm sap contaminated with bat excrement.
In Kerala’s first Nipah outbreak, 21 out of 23 infected individuals lost their lives, while outbreaks in 2019 and 2021 claimed two more lives.
A Reuters investigation in May highlighted parts of Kerala as being among the global hotspots at risk for bat virus outbreaks, as deforestation and urbanization have brought people and wildlife into close contact.
READ, ALSO;
China Unveils ‘Blueprint’ For Taiwan Integration While Sending Warships Around The Self-Ruled Island
