The Centre rushed a six-member team to Kerala on Tuesday after a college student was infected with the Nipah virus that has claimed 17 lives in the state in May last year. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan also spoke to state health minister K.K. A 23-year-old college student in Kochi was confirmed to be infected with the virus and 86 others are under observation, Shailaja said on Tuesday. Earlier, blood samples examined at two virology institutes -- Manipal Institute of Virology and Kerala Institute of Virology and Infectious Diseases --had indicated Nipah. On May 19, 2018, a Nipah virus outbreak was reported from Kozhikode in Malappuram.

Source: The Telegraph June 04, 2019 10:07 UTC