NEW DELHI– Experts have fanned out in India’s southern state of Kerala to collect samples of fluid from bats and fruit trees in a region where the deadly Nipah virus has killed two people and three more have tested positive. Samples of bat urine, animal droppings and half-eaten fruit were collected from Maruthonkara, the village where the first victim lived, set beside a 300-acre (121-hectare) forest home to several bat species. Fruit bats from the area had tested positive for the Nipah virus during an outbreak in 2018, the state’s first. ADVERTISEMENTOutbreaks are sporadic and previous infections in South Asia were traced to consumption of items contaminated with bat excreta. Kerala’s first Nipah outbreak killed 21 of the 23 infected, while subsequent outbreaks in 2019 and 2021 killed two people.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 14, 2023 18:12 UTC