Bats ‘not prime cause’ of Nipah outbreak

Medical team looking into other possible reasons behind the deadly virus outbreak in Kerala

Samples collected from bats in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of the southern Indian state of Kerala, where 12 people have died of Nipah infection, have tested negative for the virus, according to a report submitted by a central medical team to the Health Ministry yesterday.

The report has ruled out bats and pigs as the primary source of the Nipah outbreak, a health ministry official said.

The team is now looking into other possible reasons behind the outbreak following the report’s findings.

A total of 21 samples, including that from seven species of bats, two species of pigs, one bovine and one caprine, were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

“These included the samples of the bats which were found in the well in a house in Kerala’s Perambra from where the initial death was reported. They have tested negative for the Nipah virus,” the official said.

Samples from humans suspected of contracting Nipah virus have tested negative.

“Which means there are only 15 confirmed cases, which include 12 deaths. Three persons are undergoing treatment,” he said.

The samples from bats found dead in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, which were sent to the Pune institute, have been found negative and the two samples of suspected cases from Hyderabad were also negative.