BHOPAL: Two senior scientists from Bhopal’s National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) have been rushed to Kerala to collect samples of patients infected by the Nipah virus Principal scientists Dr D D Kulkarni — who was in a team that warned of human-human Nipah transmission in 2013 — and Dr Rajukumar K left for Kerala on Monday, said sources. They were asked for because even collection of samples from Nipah patients carries high risk of contamination. NIHSAD maintains a low profile but is at the cutting edge of technology, with its bio-containment lab being the first of its kind in Asia.Scientists from NIHSAD have been at the forefront of every zoonosis outbreak in the country, and had warned of a Nipah outbreak five years ago.Kulkarni, along with Dr G Venkatesh, Dr C Tosh and Dr Senthil Kumar of NIHSAD, studied Nipah virus and published their findings in Indian Journal of Virology in 2013, stressing on preparedness and constant vigil on the deadly disease. In their research, ‘Nipah Virus Infection: Current Scenario’, the scientists had warned about human-tohuman transmission of the disease and from patient to medical professionals. The death of a nurse treating Nipah patients in the recent outbreak has been reported in Kerala.“Continuous outbreaks in Bangladesh have underlined the risk to human population due to food-borne infection contaminated by fruit bats carrying the virus, but it should also be noted that more human patients could be infected by human-to-human transmission. This also poses higher risk to medical professionals as evidenced from the Siliguri outbreak in India. In view of fruit bats in Bangladesh contaminating food sources and proved human-tohuman transmission method, India cannot sit back idle even though there are not many outbreaks occurring,” the scientists had cautioned in their paper. They had detected presence of Nipah antibodies in Indian bats, which meant that there are chances of active Nipah virus in Indian bats, too.“Bat population from Northeast to Northwestern states, like Haryana , has NiV antibodies. Meaning there might be active NiV infection among Indian bats, too. Preparedness, surveillance and constant vigil will have to be mounted continuously in the country,” the team had said, adding: “The key to controlling the outbreak and reducing mortalities is early detection and preventive measures as soon as possible.”

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