Kerala: Insectivorous bats did not spread Nipah virus, researchers find at ground zero of outbreak

The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases has found that body fluid samples
collected from insectivorous bats in Changaroth gram panchayat in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, where the first Nipah-related death occurred, did not have the virus. However, researchers have not ruled out the role of fruit bats in spreading the infection. They also found that the infection has not spread to other animals.

It was suspected that Mohammed Sabith, who was the first to die of the viral infection, had contracted it while cleaning the well in his house where the bats were found.

“Research till date has shown that only fruit-eating bats are the carriers of Nipah virus,” NN Sasi, the director of the animal husbandry department, told The Hindu on Friday. “However, we wanted to check if insectivorous bats too have turned out to be the carriers of late. Residents had suspected that the source of the infection could be the bats found in the well on the premises. We did not want to take a chance and also wished to clear the doubts among people.”

Health workers said that if fruit bats turn out to have spread the virus, the rate of infection would come down by the end of the month when its breeding season would end, The New Indian Express reported. “Virologists have confirmed to us the virus is the most virulent during the breeding season of bats which happens from December to May,” said Dr KJ Reena, additional director of the state health services. “During this period, the virus is ejected through urine, stool and body secretions. The gestation period which follows is usually safe.”

A team from the animal husbandry and forest departments would visit Changaroth on Saturday to check if there were any fruit bats in the area, Sasi said. A team from Pune’s National Institute of Virology would accompany them.