What is the Nipah virus and is it spreading in southern India?

Al Jazeera
Jul 26, 2025

What is the Nipah virus and is it spreading in southern India?


On July 12, a new deadly Nipah virus infection was confirmed in a 52-year-old man in the Palakkad district of Kerala, marking the tenth instance of Nipah virus spillover (transmission of the pathogen from animals to humans) in the southern Indian state since 2018.

This year alone, Kerala has reported four Nipah cases, including two deaths, all within a 50km (30-mile) radius, on the border of the Malappuram and Palakkad districts.