Deadly nipah virus: Kerala shuts schools, offices

India's southern state of Kerala shut some schools, offices and public transport yesterday in a race to stop the spread of the rare and deadly Nipah virus, which has killed two people. An adult and a child were still infected in hospital, and more than 130 people have been tested for the virus,

spread via contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, a state health official said. "We are focusing on tracing contacts of infected persons early and isolating anyone with symptoms," said the state's Health Minister Veena George, who told reporters the virus detected in Kerala was the Bangladesh variant, which spreads from human to human with a high mortality rate but has a history of being less infectious. "Public movement has been restricted in parts of the state to contain the medical crisis," she said.

Two infected people have died since August 30 in the state's fourth outbreak of the virus since 2018, forcing authorities to declare containment zones in at least seven villages in the district of Kozhikode. Strict isolation rules have been adopted, with medical staff being quarantined after contact with the infected.

The first victim was a small landholder growing bananas and areca nuts in the district's village of Marutonkara, said a government official