Nipah virus Kerala will keep recurring, an expert warned in an interview, saying the virus lives in bats and will return to the state again. The interview, published by the New Indian Express on 8 November, was headlined with the expert’s warning that 50 per cent of bats there must be infected. The warning comes as the virus has resurfaced in Kozhikode, where a 43-year-old patient is being treated at the Government Medical College Hospital. The expert said the state must learn to live with the virus, and that the outbreaks will not stop.
The Nipah virus Kerala outbreaks began in 2018, when the first outbreak in the state recorded 23 cases and a case fatality rate of 91 per cent. The virus has returned since then, and the latest case in Kozhikode is the latest in a series of outbreaks. The virus is carried by the Indian flying fox, a fruit bat known as Pteropus medius, and about 25 per cent of the bats sampled in 2018 tested positive. The peak risk runs from April to September, when the bats are most active and the fruit they eat is in season.
Nipah virus Kerala is a priority pathogen for the World Health Organization, which lists it among the viruses that could cause the next pandemic. The virus kills between 40 and 75 per cent of the people it infects, and there is no vaccine or specific treatment. The virus can spread from bats to people, and from people to people, though human-to-human spread has been seen only once in Kerala, in a cluster in 2023. The National Institute of Virology has developed monoclonal antibodies for the virus, which are used to treat patients.
Nipah virus Kerala and the bats that carry it
The Nipah virus Kerala expert said the bats that carry the virus are widespread in the state, and that the virus will keep returning as long as they are there. The Indian flying fox is the reservoir for the virus, and the bats carry it without falling ill. The virus is known to pass to people through fruit the bats have eaten or the sap of palm trees they have visited, and the peak risk runs from April to September. The expert’s warning was that the state must learn to live with the virus, since the bats will not go away.
Nipah virus Kerala has led the state to set up a One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience in Kozhikode, which opened in 2023. The centre brings together doctors, vets and scientists, and it is aimed at tracking the virus and preparing for the next outbreak. The centre works with the National Institute of Virology, which has developed monoclonal antibodies for the virus. The antibodies are used to treat patients, and they are the best treatment available for a virus that has no vaccine.
Nipah virus Kerala and the risk ahead
The Nipah virus Kerala risk is highest from April to September, when the bats are most active and the fruit they eat is in season. The expert said the state must be ready for the outbreaks, and that the hospitals need to be able to spot the virus early. The 43-year-old patient in Kozhikode is being treated at the Government Medical College Hospital, and the health department has said it is watching the contacts. The state has dealt with the virus before, and the expert said it must learn to live with it.
Nipah virus Kerala outbreaks have been few but deadly, and the 2018 outbreak showed how fast the virus can kill. The virus has a case fatality rate of 40 to 75 per cent, and the 2018 outbreak in Kerala had a rate of 91 per cent. The virus can spread from person to person, but that has happened only once in the state, in a cluster in 2023. The expert said the state must focus on the bats, and that the virus will return as long as they carry it.
The Nipah virus Kerala warning from the expert is a reminder that the virus will not go away, and that the state must be ready for it. The bats that carry the virus are widespread, and the outbreaks have returned since 2018. The One Health Centre in Kozhikode is tracking the virus, and the National Institute of Virology has developed antibodies to treat it. The state has the tools to deal with the virus, and the expert said it must use them.