Kerala’s multifaceted approach to combat Nipah virus — from a research centre to collaborative studies

Considered to be transmitted by fruit bats, the Nipah virus is genetically related to the Hendra virus, another henipavirus known to be carried by bats. Infected fruit bats can spread the disease to people or other animals, such as pigs. People can become infected if they have close contact with an infected animal. Once it spreads to people, the person-to-person spread of the Nipah virus can also occur.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the absence of a vaccine or licensed treatment available for Nipah virus, the only way to reduce or prevent infection in people is by raising awareness of the risk factors and educating people about the measures they can take to reduce exposure to Nipah virus infection.

Also Read: Oxford scientists launch first human vaccine trials for deadly Nipah virus

Centre for Nipah

Health officials hint that one of the major interventions to tackle Nipah is the establishment of a Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience at Kozhikode.

South First learnt that Dr TS Anish, Associate Professor, Community Medicine Department at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, will act as its nodal officer and is preparing a detailed project report listing out its structure and objectives to be submitted to the Health Department.

When asked, Dr Anish confirmed it to South First, “With such a centre in place, the state could coordinate with various departments and research centres, and could undertake a slew of studies like monitoring fruit bat colonies, interdisciplinary studies on human-bat interactions, studying bat-linked ecosystem services and risks, and others.”

According to health officials, the proposed Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience is a major initiative being set up under the One Health programme launched in 2022.

It was following recurrent outbreaks of zoonotic diseases in the state that Kerala rolled out the One Health programme.

Under it, sustained community surveillance of unusual events that could trigger zoonotic diseases, early detection of suspected zoonotic disease outbreaks, and effective community-based participatory interventions to reduce risk factors to prevent and contain the spread of zoonotic diseases have been envisioned.

“The centre at Kozhikode is expected to meet these objectives as it will carry out a collaborative multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach at local, district and state levels, including active participation of private sector to prevent, identify, and effectively respond to the Nipah virus,” said a health official.

Also Read: ICMR confirms presence of Nipah antibodies in bats from Kozhikode

State mulls collaborative study

At the same time, spurred by some recent projections that Kerala is facing the risk of Nipah virus spillover from bats to humans, the state government has mulled a collaborative study with the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

An institute under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research, NIV had carried out studies on surveillance of Nipah virus in fruit bats of Wayanad and Kozhikode in 2023. Both studies confirmed the Nipah virus presence in bats of the two districts.

“It was the NIV which first approached the state to carry out a study titled ‘Understanding probable risk factors for Nipah virus spillover events in and around affected districts of Kerala’,” said a source at the Health Department.

It is learnt that a team headed by Dr Pragya D Yadav of NIV, Pune had expressed interest in carrying out the study, which will also have members from NIV, Alappuzha.

However, according to sources, the state government has decided to constitute a committee with officials of various departments and the said NIV members to carry out the study.

“A meeting was held by the Principal Secretary (Health) on 19 February to discuss the study proposal. Based on its outcome, the state government has decided to constitute a research coordination committee by roping in experts from various fields to carry out the study,” said the source.

The committee’s convener is Dr Pragya and the joint convener is Dr Anish. The other members include experts from NIV Pune and Alappuzha, officials from various departments — Health, Forest, Local Body, Animal Husbandry, Forest, and Agriculture — and officials from the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wayanad and State Institute for Animal Diseases, Palode.

Also Read: Nipah update: Kerala beats the virus?

Study warns of spillover

A study carried out by a team from NIV titled “Surveillance of Nipah virus in Pteropus medius of Kerala state, India, 2023” came out with the caution that there is a spillover risk in the region and necessary precautions should have to be taken.

The study carried out among the Pteropus medius (fruit bats) population around the Nipah affected regions of Kozhikode was published in Frontiers of Mirobiology, a journal, on 5 March.

The study warns that as the Pteropus medius is widely distributed in Kerala, with colonies near human habitats, the foraging of fruit trees and orchards near human settlements could be a possible risk factor for humans.

Of the bats tested as part of the study, four tested positive for the Nipah virus in their liver/spleen samples.

(Edited by Kamna Revanoor)