India seeks Nipah virus antibody doses from Australia; plans to work on vaccine

A fresh case of Nipah virus was confirmed in India's Kerala on Friday, taking the total number of infections to six while the fatalities remain two. Kerala is grappling with a renewed surge in Nipah cases – the brain-damaging virus which spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected bats, pigs or people. The virus was first detected in 2018.

In view of the situation, the state government is in a high alert mode, testing those who are on the high-risk contact list of the infected persons. The Kerala Health department said it has identified a total of 1,080 persons in the contact list of the positive patients and has started collecting samples.

Meanwhile, as the Indian government makes efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced Friday that it would procure from Australia 20 more doses of monoclonal antibody for its treatment.

Nipah virus top updates:

1)ICMR DG Rajeev Bahl on Friday said, "The medicine being procured from Australia needs to be given during the early stage of the infection." According to him, no one so far has been administered the medicine in India. He added that the mortality rate in Nipah among the infected is very high (between 40 and 70 per cent) compared to the mortality in Covid, which was 2-3 per cent. Bahl said that ICMR is also planning to start work on developing a vaccine against the viral disease.

2) The Kerala High Court on Friday asked the state government to issue guidelines, if required, for pilgrimage to Sabarimala when it opens for monthly puja in view of the outbreak.

3)As a precautionary measure, all educational institutes in Kozhikode will remain shut for a week until next Sunday while online classes will be ensured. Meanwhile, all hospitals treating Nipah cases have been directed to form a medical board to meet twice a day and to hand over the report to the health department.

4)Health minister Veena George said that about 29 people in other districts are in the contact list of Nipah-infected people. He said that the contact list is likely to increase and added that as many as 17 persons who had attended the cremation of the man who died on August 30 were put under isolation.

5)Meanwhile, the Kerala police lodged a case in this regard against a man for allegedly posting fake news related to the virus. Koyilandi resident 40-year-old Anil Kumar, a newspaper agent, allegedly circulated fake news through social media, claiming that "Nipah was a fake narrative created by pharma companies," a senior police official said.