“Mortality rate is 40-70 per cent…”: ICMR DG Rajeev Bahl on Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala

Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Rajeev Bahl on September 15 informed that the mortality rate among Nipah virus-infected people is very high. Addressing a Press Conference in Delhi, the ICMR DG Rajeev Bahl said that the mortality rate among infected is between 40 per cent to 70 per cent. He also said that they do not know why Nipah cases keep surfacing in Kerala. “We don’t know why Nipah cases keep surfacing in Kerala. It has always happened in a particular season, usually rainy. Why Kerala…that I cannot answer. I don’t know the answer. He also said that the vaccine is nowhere ready. It being one of our target vaccines. So I can’t give a timeline at this moment.