Newsday - Nipah virus: 12 year old boy dies - BBC Sounds

Authorities in Kerala in the south of India are racing to contain an outbreak of the Nipah virus after a 12 year old boy died over the weekend. The rare virus is not related to the Covid19.

Abantika Ghosh is health editor of the Print, and author of a book called "Billions Under Lockdown: The Inside Story of India's Battle Against Covid 19." She told Newsday:

“Nipah is a zoonotic virus and it has most commonly been traced to bats. It is less infectious than SARS-CoV-2, though the death rate is way higher.”

“There was some half eaten rambutan fruit that was found in the boy’s garden. The authorities are suspecting a bat might have nibbled these fruits and the boy might have consumed it unknowingly and that's how he might have got the virus. The results of those fruit tests are yet to come in. We don't know yet if any other human being caught it from the boy.”

“250 people have been put in isolation because they might have come into contact with the boy or some of his other contacts.”

“The problem is that there are two diseases on the prowl and both need the same kind of containment strategy.”