Teen who died of Nipah in Kerala had local fruit from neighbourhood where fruit bats thrive

“We have confirmed the presence of fruit bats in that region. Prima facie analysis indicates that this could be the source of infection. Further examination is required to confirm this. A team of experts from National Virology Institute-Pune will reach Malappuram on Monday to study the fruit bats in the region,” she said.

The minister said an analysis of earlier incidents of the infection had shown that the strain of the virus found in the affected persons in Kerala was similar to the strain found in the body of the fruit bats. With the help of ICMR, efforts are going on to ascertain the presence of the virus in fruits, she said.

In the previous incidents of Nipah too, the infection was reported from places where there was presence of fruit bats. In 2018 and 2023, the cases were reported in the eastern hilly region of Kozhikode.

In 2019, when one case was reported in Kochi, the infected person had reportedly consumed a fruit bitten by a bat. In 2021, when the infection claimed a boy’s life at Chathamangalam in Kozhikode, field survey had shown that he had consumed rambutan fruit, grown in the region. In the 2023 outbreak in Kozhikode, which killed two persons, the study found that the index case had exposure to a farm land cultivating bananas, which had the presence of fruit bats.

In 2021, NIV-Pune had found Nipah virus antibodies in samples collected from two fruit bat varieties in Kozhikode district. It is widely accepted that these mammals are the source of the virus and the finding reinforced this. Infected fruit bats can spread the disease to other animals as well, such as pigs, dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep. Normally, fruit bats, identified as the animal host reservoir for the virus, breed in the months of May and June.