Authorities in Kerala have closed down some schools, offices and declared more than seven villages as containment zones in the southern state of Kerala after two deaths were reported from the rare and deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus.
As per reports, more than 130 people have so far been tested for the virus, which is transmitted to humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or other people, an official from Kerala’s health ministry said on Wednesday.
The deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illness affecting pig farmers and others in close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore.
Reportedly, this is the fourth Nipah outbreak in Kerala since 2018.
In 2019 and 2021, Nipah killed two more people.
A Reuters news agency investigation published in May identified parts of Kerala as among the places most at risk globally for outbreaks of bat viruses.
Experts say that due to habitat loss, animals are living in closer proximity to humans and this helps the virus to jump from animals to humans.