In Thiruvananthapuram’s Thirumala, many flying fox bats can be seen hanging from a tree. The tree is situated on a road where many people go for a daily walk. Last week, when some people from the neighbourhood met for a morning walk, they began discussion about the tree and the bats amid presence of the Nipah virus (NiV) in Kerala.
After the death of a 12-year-old boy due to Nipah virus, there is panic and fear among people in Kerala. Though the close contacts of the victim have been tested negative for the virus, the source of the virus is yet to be found.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Sunday said that the source of the infection is yet to be determined. George had yesterday said that it was important to identify the source of infection and the surveillance team from Pune NIV has been collecting samples from various parts. She said the high risk contacts have been isolated in the Kozhikode MCH and their health condition is stable. The state government had conducted a complete house-to-house survey within three-km-radius from the house of the boy who succumbed to Nipah virus as part of is fever surveillance.
Sixty-seven-year-old Muralikrishna, a retired central government employee, pointing to the tree told The News Minute, “Should we ask the authorities to cut down the tree? There are so many fruit bats, how can we walk here peacefully?”
The retired doctor Ananthakrishna responded, “Don’t be foolish, as per the World Health Organisation, if bats are stressed it might cause a spillover (virus moving from one species to another). These birds are full of viruses, they can shed it anywhere.”
Though there are no proofs if bats are behind the spread of virus, opinions like these have created tension among the people.
It was in 2018 that the State first witnessed the Nipah outbreak which claimed 17 lives. In 2019, one person was infected but he survived the virus. This time, the virus has reappeared in Kozhikode a week ago as a 12 -year-0ld boy from the Kozhikode district of Kerala has succumbed to the virus.
Bats have been considered to be the natural hosts of the virus. Earlier in 2018, during the spread of Nipah, bats were present around the areas where the infection occurred in Kozhikode. But, none of the bat samples collected tested positive for the virus.
The report said that bats were present in the well from which the family of the first three victims used to fetch drinking water. However, experts said that they were bats that feed on insects and were not carriers of the virus.
“There is no credible evidence that bats harbour more viruses, or even more deadly viruses than other animals. Frightening headlines in the media have the potential to jeopardise decades of conservation progress,” Merlin D Tuttle, founder and Executive Director, Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation and Research Fellow told The News Minute.
He also said that the transmission of viruses from bats to humans is exceedingly rare. The benefits of sharing our neighbourhoods with bats far outweigh any risks, he added.
Experts reiterated that until now there is no proof or study that substantiates the role of bats in the NiV outbreak in India.
Arakkal Madhavan, who has been studying bats for more than 50 years said that before Nipah, a lot of people used to consume bat meat and also it’s believed to help asthma patients, but no one has been infected.
Read all minute-by-minute news updates for Uttar Pradesh election results 2022, Punjab election results 2022, Uttarakhand election results 2022, Manipur election results 2022, and Goa election results 2022.
Click here for seat-wise LIVE result updates.
Comments
0 comment