Kerala on High Alert as New Nipah Virus Outbreak Triggers Action

Kerala has once again been put on high alert, as the state is facing yet another Nipah virus outbreak, and the Centre is taking action.

A special joint outbreak response team, with specialists from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), ICMR, NIV Pune, wildlife and veterinary sector, has been deployed to Malappuram and Palakkad districts to help with the containment measures and identification of the source.

The contacts list has now grown to 498 with 203 in Malappuram, 116 in Kozhikode, 177 in Palakkad and 2 in Ernakulam. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, with one 38 year old patient with ICU admission at Kozhikode Medical College and one death confirmed in Malappuram, and a 78 year old woman who was also on the contact list died, though she tested negative for the virus.

The second central team is taking bat samples and ecology surveillance in Palakkad to trace the viral reservoir due to recurrent outbreaks. With 40 - 75% case fatality rates Nipah remains one of the most severe zoonotic viruses and it will require strong containment efforts.

Also Read: Kerala on High Alert as Suspected Nipah Cases Raise Public Health Concerns

From an industry perspective, this shows that there is an urgent need for better integrated pandemic surveillance, zoonotic research, and coordination among the states and centre so that we can avoid this again and keep our public health systems safe.