Authorities in India’s southern state of Kerala closed several schools, workplaces, and public transport on Wednesday as they tried to contain the spread of the uncommon and fatal brain-damaging Nipah virus, which has killed two people.
An adult and a kid remain hospitalized, and more than 130 people have been tested for the virus, which is carried by direct contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs, or people, according to a state health official.
“We are concentrating on tracing contacts of infected persons early and isolating everyone with symptoms,” state Health Minister Veena George said, adding that the virus strain was being studied.
“Public movement in parts of the state has been restricted in order to contain the medical crisis.”
Two individuals have died in the state’s fourth outbreak of the virus since 2018, prompting officials to create containment zones in at least seven villages in the Kozhikode district.
Strict isolation protocols were implemented, with medical personnel isolated after coming into touch with the afflicted.
According to a government source, the first casualty was a modest landholder in the district’s village of Marutonkara. The victim’s daughter and brother-in-law are both afflicted, and additional family members and neighbors are being tested.
The second fatality occurred after interaction in the hospital with the first victim, according to physicians’ preliminary inquiry, but the two were unrelated, according to the official, who requested anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media.
Three government teams, including scientists from the National Virology Institute, were scheduled to arrive on Wednesday for more testing, according to the official.
The Nipah virus was discovered in 1999 amid an epidemic of disease among Malaysian and Singaporean pig breeders and others in close contact with the animals.
Twenty-one of the 23 people infected died in Kerala’s initial Nipah outbreak, and two more people died in subsequent outbreaks in 2019 and 2021.
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In May, Reuters reported that portions of Kerala were among the places most vulnerable to bat virus epidemics worldwide. People and wildlife have come into close contact as a result of extensive deforestation and development.
