Antibodies against Nipah virus identified in bat samples collected from Kozhikode: Health Minister

Kalpetta: Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said that antibodies against the Nipah virus have been identified in samples of 12 fruit-eating bats collected from Maruthonkara in Kozhikode. 

Addressing the media in Wayanad on Thursday, Veena George said that the government had received a letter informing about the presence of antibodies from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 

In the initial phase, the samples of bats collected from Nipah-affected areas (2023 outbreak) did not show the virus presence. Later, experts from the Central and State Animal Welfare Departments collected samples from bats near the residence of a Nipah victim in Maruthonkara. However, 36 samples collected from bats turned out negative.

Although the virus's presence has been identified in bats, health experts are still unclear how the infection gets transmitted from bats to humans.

Meanwhile, the widespread death of wild boars in Nipah-affected areas has earlier raised concern. However, it was later confirmed that the pigs died of African swine fever.