THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state is gearing up for a comprehensive study into the reasons behind the Nipah outbreak that struck Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in May. The outbreak had claimed 17 lives.The study, to be conducted with the help of foreign universities and international agencies, will also focus on the surveillance and initiating preventive steps to check similar outbreaks in the future. The collaborative study was ideated by the Department of Wildlife Science, College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
“KAU, in its individual capacity, has been conducting some research into the Nipah virus outbreak. But now it has suggested an international collaborative study and a proposal in this regard has also been submitted to the state government,” said an officer with the Agriculture Department.
According to the officer, while some universities in the US, the UK and Australia have already expressed their interest to associate with the study, centres like Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research in Bangladesh has agreed to chip in with their expertise and findings. It is learnt that Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will fund the study.
Nameer P O, head, Department of Wildlife Science and Centre for Wildlife Studies, College of Forestry, KAU, said the main components of the study will be sampling and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) level analysis.
“The sampling will be conducted at various parts of the state. The focus will be on identifying the presence of virus in these samples and to initiate precautionary measures if it is at an alarming level,” said Nameer.
The study is of multi-disciplinary in nature and will have bat experts, virologists, epidemiologists, disease ecologists and others in the team.
“In India, fruit bats are assumed as the agents for Nipah virus transmission. But other bat species were involved in other countries where similar outbreaks have been reported. Also, the widely held belief that the transmission of the virus and stress on bats is correlated. The study will look into these aspects too,” said Nameer.
To uncover the reasons behind the transmission of the virus from bats to humans, the sampling will have to be combined with epidemiological, anthropological, ecological, virological and immunological studies.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus infection is an emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The disease which leads to acute respiratory distress, encephalitis could progress to coma within 24 to 48 hours. The mortality rate is estimated between 40 per cent and 75 per cent.
A WHO release on July 30 said risk of emerging diseases is real and there is a need for preparedness and putting in place a robust system to effectively deal with such diseases.