Kozhikode: The National Medical Research Council (ICMR) has warned that there may be a South Indian variant of the Nipah virus in the wake of the Nipah outbreak in Kerala in 2018 and 2019. ICMR shares this observation in a study published in the February issue of the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.
The relevance of the study report is increasing in the context of the NIPPA confirmation again this year. According to the report, bats carrying the Nippa virus are present in various districts of Kerala and arrangements should be made for immediate monitoring in this regard.
According to a study released by ICMR 2019, Nippa, which was confirmed in Kozhikode in 2018, came to humans from bats. In the case of NIPPA confirmed to a student in Ernakulam in 2019, the ICMR also found that the fruit bats were the carriers of the disease.
Currently, there are only Bangladeshi and Malaysian variants of NIPPA. There is a difference of 1.96% between the genetic makeup of the virus found in Kerala and that of the Bangladeshi variant. It differs by 8.24% from the Malaysian variant. Therefore, the study suggests that a new variant of the Nipah virus (India I) may be spreading in southern India.
English Summary: Study finds Nipah South Indian variant
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