Alert issued against Nipah in Kerala from April to September

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Kerala has had Nipah outbreaks in 2018 and 2023, both in Kozhikode. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT

Health officials in Kerala have issued an alert against Nipah infections in the State from April to September.

With cases being reported frequently here since 2018, the focus is on Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Thrissur districts. Awareness campaigns for children are also planned as some of the victims in recent years have been from that age group.

Kerala has had Nipah outbreaks in 2018 and 2023, both in Kozhikode, one spillover case each in 2019 and 2021, two spillover cases in 2024, and four such cases in 2025, most of which were in Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Palakkad. Spillovers are single instances of the infection while outbreaks include human-to-human transmissions.

Kerala on Nipah alert after Kozhikode man’s preliminary test turns positive

According to T.S. Anish, nodal officer, Kozhikode-based Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience, the Nipah virus is found to have been active in Kerala in the the six-month period starting in April. “The first outbreak in the State was in early May 2018. That patient could have got infected by the end of the previous month. At the same time, the highest number of cases so far have been in September. In the 2023 outbreak, the first patient died on August 30. But, subsequent cases – the others who got infected from him – were reported in the next month. We have had cases in September 2025 as well,” he says. Dr. Anish points out that no cases have been recorded in the six months after September till now.

Also Read | Batting for prevention: On Nipah cases in Kerala

When asked about the reason for this phenomenon, he says that the infection has been found to transmit through fruits in Kerala since fruit bats are the “natural reservoirs” of the virus. The fruiting season in the State is around April. The breeding season of bats is in April-May and then in September, when they become more aggressive, Dr. Anish says