Virus carried by fruit bats kills three in India

A deadly virus carried mainly by fruit bats has killed at least three people in southern India.

Eight other deaths in the state of Kerala are being investigated for possible links to the Nipah virus, which has a 70 per cent mortality rate.

The victims all died in Calicut district, said Rajeev Sadanandan, the Kerala health secretary. The three who died included two siblings in their early twenties. A nursing assistant who had treated them also died yesterday.