Latest news with #Pteropusmedius
New Indian Express
11-07-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Kerala intensifies Nipah hunt; forest department joins NIV to trace bat source
KOZHIKODE: Forest department has joined hands with the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in a mission to identify the source of the deadly Nipah virus in the state. The move comes as Kerala is grappling with another Nipah outbreak in the Palakkad and Malappuram districts. The plan is to conduct extensive tests and collect samples from bats, which have long been suspected as the primary reservoir for the virus. Forest Minister A K Saseendran has pledged the department's support, ensuring NIV officials access to the forest areas. Forest personnel will actively assist in the meticulous collection of bat samples, a critical step in understanding the virus's prevalence and transmission pathways. The chief wildlife warden has already issued directives to all circle chief conservators and DFOs across the department in this regard. Despite recurrent Nipah outbreaks in Kerala since 2018, which have often resulted in high fatality rates, the precise point of spillover from bats to humans has frequently remained unclear. The confirmed Nipah cases in Palakkad and Malappuram, with samples dispatched to NIV Pune for validation, have amplified the need for this comprehensive investigation. Previous surveillance efforts have detected Nipah virus RNA and antibodies in Pteropus medius bats (fruit bats) in affected regions. Experts from NIV highlight that bats are known reservoirs of numerous highly-infectious viruses, including Nipah, Ebola, and Marburg. The transmission of Nipah from bats to humans typically occurs through the ingestion of fresh date palm sap contaminated with Nipah virus (NiV), consumption of partially eaten fruits, or contact with infected domestic animals.
New Indian Express
12-05-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Kerala government sharpens Nipah detection readiness
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Early alerts and sensitisation efforts, in place from February, have helped the health department prepare for potential Nipah outbreaks during the high-risk period from April to September. This was indicated in an advisory released after a top-level meeting convened by Health Minister Veena George to review preparedness against various communicable diseases. This timely alert played a crucial role in identifying recent Nipah cases that initially presented as dengue. The state remains on high alert during the Nipah transmission season, which aligns with the mating period of fruit bats (Pteropus medius), believed to be the natural reservoirs of the virus. The state has historically recorded Nipah cases between May and September, with the first occurring in May 2018. A 42-year-old woman from Valanchery in Malappuram tested positive for Nipah earlier this month. In both this case and previous ones, transmission is believed to have started by mid-April, with symptoms appearing towards the end of the month. Similarly, cases were recorded in July and September last year. 'We began issuing alerts early to ensure both the public and healthcare workers are prepared and aware,' said Dr T S Anish, professor and nodal officer at the Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience, Kozhikode Government Medical College. The Centre launched awareness campaigns in March across five districts identified as hotspots: Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Wayanad, and Ernakulam.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Nipah pathway to humans still remains unclear in Kerala
Kozhikode: Though the state has been undertaking virus surveillance in Pteropus medius bats , which is considered primary reservoir for Nipah virus, the inability to establish the exact pathways through which the virus has been making its way to the infected patients in the Nipah outbreaks in the state continues to be a crucial missing research has established the Nipah virus found in infected persons and that found in bats are of the same strain through genome sequencing, the exact mode of transmission of virus from bats to humans in the past outbreaks in the state is yet to be ascertained, which can be important for disease prevention strategies and identification of high-risk environments or it is assumed that Nipah virus can be transmitted to animals by consumption of contaminated fruit with saliva or urine from infected fruit bats or direct contact with other infected animals etc, research has not been able to establish what the exact mode of transmission in the Nipah cases reported so far in the Anoop Kumar AS, a critical care specialist who has been part of medical teams that had diagnosed Nipah virus in past outbreaks, said that though fruit samples and other samples have been collected and tested, it has not been able to establish virus presence in samples from the state."Fruit samples have all tested negative," Kumar said the finding the exact mode of transmission of Nipah virus can be very difficult as it remains unclear in many other diseases including the Covid pandemic and added that there can be multiple mode of transmissions as well. Kumar said research in Bangladesh which had witnessed regular Nipah outbreaks has been able to isolate virus in date palm syrup. The finding had helped establish consumption of contaminated date palm syrup a possible primary pathway of transmission from bats to people in that country along with other transmission routes.
