Nipah Protocol in Kerala

• A 24-year-old man in Malappuram, Kerala, died of Nipah on September 9, after he tested positive for the virus.
• The health department adopted the Nipah protocol, forming 16 committees to identify those in close contact with the victim.
• The man, a student from Bengaluru, died of Nipah, a deadly zoonotic virus.
• The government imposed restrictions on social movement and made face masks mandatory in public places in Malappuram district.
• This is the sixth Nipah virus spillover in Kerala since 2018, with 22 deaths so far.
• The government declared five civic wards in Tiruvali and Mampad as containment zones.
• Schools, madrasas, coaching and tuition centres, and cinema halls were closed.
• Social gatherings were banned, and masks were made mandatory.
• The health department traced 267 persons who had come in contact with the victim and put them in quarantine.
• The government opened a Nipah control room at Malappuram and started closely monitoring developments.
• The virus is believed to be transmitted from bats to humans through contamination of fruits eaten by bats with subsequent consumption by humans.
• The exact location of the 24-year-old Nipah victim is unclear, and experts are divided on attributing the virus exclusively to bats.