MUMBAI: India began a fresh round of tests to trace the origin of a rare brain-damaging virus that has killed 13 people, a health official said on Monday, as initial tests on animals suspected of carrying the Nipah virus showed no sign of the disease. Separately, tests run on dead bats in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh were negative for Nipah, an official there said. No confirmed cases of the virus have yet been found outside Kerala, despite fears it has spread. Some neighbouring states including Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka have sent samples for testing of people who reported Nipah-like symptoms in the last few days. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said last week that Profectus BioSciences and Emergent BioSolutions would receive up to $25 million to accelerate work on a vaccine against Nipah virus.

Source: New Strait Times May 28, 2018 13:07 UTC