Tests have identified Nipah virus in two patients from India’s Kerala state, one of them an 18-year-old woman from Malappuram district who died from her infection after treatment in a hospital in Kozhikode district, according to an Indian media report that cited health department officials.
.jpg)
Samples from the girl were positive on initial tests, and the infection was confirmed in follow-up testing at the National Institute of Virology in Pune.
A second Nipah infection was reported in a 38-year-old woman from neighboring Palakkad district. Authorities conducted enhanced surveillance in 20 wards in Malappuram district to enhance awareness and identify a potential source of the first infection. No other illnesses were found.
No known links between the two cases
A source told the news outlet that there are no known epidemiologic connections between the two patients, but officials are looking into the possibility of a common social event that might link the cases.
State health officials said 425 contacts have been identified, including five who are receiving intensive care. Test results on another contact were negative.
India reported its last Nipah virus case in May, which marked the country’s seventh case in Kerala state since 2018. The woman was from the same district as the new fatal case.
Nipah virus is spread by fruit bats and can be transmitted person-to-person. People can also contract the virus from drinking palm sap or eating fruit contaminated with bat urine, droppings, or saliva. The disease has a high case-fatality rate, and currently there are no specific treatments or vaccine, though trials are under way. Kerala state, located on India’s southwestern coast, has been the country's hot spot for the virus.