Nipah Virus Returns to Kerala: 3 Deaths, Central Teams Deployed, Red Alert Declared

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is battling another Nipah virus outbreak, with eight confirmed cases and three fatalities reported in Kozhikode district - the same epicentre of the 2018 and 2023 outbreaks.

The Union Health Ministry has dispatched a 12-member Rapid Response Team, including virology experts from ICMR and the National Institute of Virology, to assist Kerala's state health machinery.

A containment perimeter of 5 km has been drawn around the index cluster. Three hundred and forty-two primary and secondary contacts have been traced, quarantined, and placed under daily clinical monitoring.

Nipah carries a case fatality rate of 40–75%, and no approved vaccine or antiviral therapy is currently available. Fruit bats of the Pteropus species are the natural reservoir and most likely source of this outbreak.

The WHO has activated its Incident Management System for the outbreak and is in contact with the Indian government. International health bodies are offering diagnostic support and experimental therapeutic supplies.