NEW DELHI
\nExperts have fanned out in India\u2019s southern state of Kerala to collect samples of fluid from bats and fruit trees in a region where the deadly Nipah virus has killed two people and three more have tested positive.
\nThe state is battling its fourth outbreak since 2018 of a virus for which there is no vaccine, and which spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, killing up to 75% of those infected.
\nWe are testing human beings and at the same time experts are collecting fluid samples from forested areas that could be the hotspot for the spread,\u201d said Veena George, the state\u2019s health minister.
\nSamples of bat urine, animal droppings and half-eaten fruit were collected from Maruthonkara, the village where the first victim lived, set beside a 300-acre (121-hectare) forest home to several bat species.
\nFruit bats from the area had tested positive for the Nipah virus during an outbreak in 2018, the state\u2019s first.
\n\u201cWe are in a stage of hypervigilance and detection,\u201d George said, adding that 77 people had been identified as being at high risk of infection.
\nNearly 800 people have been tested over the last 48 hours in the state\u2019s district of Kozhikode, with two adults and a child put in hospital for observation after proving positive.
\nPublic offices, government buildings, educational centres and religious institutions were shut in nine villages of the district, while public transport was suspended in the area at risk.
\nThe neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have ordered tests for visitors from Kerala, with plans to isolate any who show symptoms of influenza.
\nThe virus can infect a range of animals, fuelling the chances of spread. It can be caught either through direct contact or by consumption of contaminated food.
\nIt was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illness among pig farmers and others in close contact with the animals in Malaysia and Singapore.
\nOutbreaks are sporadic and previous infections in South Asia were traced to consumption of items contaminated with bat excreta.
\nKerala\u2019s first Nipah outbreak killed 21 of the 23 infected, while subsequent outbreaks in 2019 and 2021 killed two people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Experts have fanned out in India\u2019s southern state of Kerala to collect samples of fluid from bats and fruit trees in a region where the deadly Nipah virus has killed two people and three more have tested positive. The state is battling its fourth outbreak since 2018 of a virus for which there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n