Kerala reports two deaths from Nipah Virus. Two family member were also suspected...

Two family member were also suspected..

NEW DELHI, Sept. 12, - According to a National Institute of Virology representative, India has recorded two cases of the rare Nipah virus in the state of Kerala.

The official, who declined to be named, claimed that two people passed away this month—one on August 30 and the other this month.

The official added that the virology institution has transmitted its report to the federal health ministry. Two further members of the same family were suspected of having the virus, and their samples have been sent for testing.

First discovered in 1999 during an illness outbreak affecting pig farmers and others in close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore, the deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus is spread to humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected pigs, bats or other people.

There are neither cures nor vaccinations available for the virus.

A quarantine has been established, and mass testing will start where the most recent cases were discovered.

Four outbreaks of Nipah have occurred in Kerala since 2018. The hospital received a visit from the 26-year-old patient who was the source of the first and deadliest outbreak with a fever and a cough that swiftly spread to his family and other patients before Nipah was discovered.

Then, 21 of the 23 people who were afflicted died. In 2019 and 2021, Nipah took two more lives.