The Union health ministry has reported that three cases of infection with the Nipah virus (NiV) have been detected in the districts of Malappuram and Palakkad in Kerala in the year 2025 after regional government officials conceded to locating three cases of the illness. The reporting was through a written response that outlined what was being done in preventing and controlling the outbreak.
The Nipah virus is a new (emergent), zoonotic infectious disease that mainly affects pigs and humans, as indicated by Jadhav. Clusters or outbreaks of human infections normally involve close contacts and caregivers of the infected people. It is considered that the Pteropid fruit bats are the natural host of NiV and that they play a vital role in the spread of the disease in Kerala. The characteristic of spillover events is that the fruit bats transfer the virus to intermediate hosts or even directly to human beings.
Nipah infections in India have been found to be in line with the collection of palm sap that attracts fruit bats, hence the repeated outbreaks in certain territories. To emphasise the measures to respond, Jadhav explained that the surveillance mechanisms have been enhanced to pick up early warning alerts, identify the outbreak at its first stage and carry out comprehensive investigations. Public health agencies take immediate and concerted efforts to contain and ward off any further transmission.
A National Joint Outbreak Response Team- consisting of experts of Animal Husbandry, Dairying Department, Forest and Wildlife Department, Human Health Department and bat survey teams have been put into motion to assess the situation thoroughly. Other districts such as Kozhikode, Thrissur and Wayanad have been put under high alert. Moreover, sequencing of clinical samples of full genomes of all confirmed cases has been conducted to gain insight into the virus strain and also help in containment measures.
The government has assured the House that the outbreak is being monitored and is under preventive measures by the government diligently.
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