Tests rule out bats as source of Nipah virus
Kozhikode, May 25: Tests have ruled out bats being behind the spread of the Nipah virus that took 12 lives in Kerala's Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, officials said on Friday.
A total of 21 samples from bats and pigs were sent to the High Security Animal Diseases laboratory at Bhopal but all turned out negative according to the results, obtained late Friday evening, said officials.
Early this week, a team led by Central Animal Husbandry Commissioner S.P. Suresh, after examination of animals in the affected areas near here, said no incidence of Nipah virus had been identified in animals and it was the humans who had been affected.
The samples sent to Bhopal included those taken from bats found in the house of disease victim Moosa in the worse-affected Perambara village. His two sons and another relative also succumbed.
All the 21 samples were collected from in and nearby Perambara.
Transmission of NiV takes place through direct contact with infected bats, pigs or from other NiV-infected people.
With the results showing that this virus has not come from bats, the authorities have now decided to conduct more tests to locate its source.
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PM Modi's 'friendship' with President Trump proving to be hollow: Congress
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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "much boasted friendship" with US President Donald Trump is now proving to be "hollow" and cited several overtures the latter recently made to Pakistan.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh also alleged that Indian diplomacy was failing in the light of the US partnering with Pakistan.
"The abject failure of Indian diplomacy, especially in the past two months, is revealed most tellingly by four facts. These expose the tall claims made by the Prime Minister and his drum-beaters and cheerleaders," he said in his post.
Ramesh said that since May 10, 2025, Trump has claimed 25 times that "he personally intervened to stop Operation Sindoor, threatening India and Pakistan that if they didn't bring the war to a halt, they would not have a trade agreement with the USA."
On June 10, 2025, he claimed, Gen Michael Kurilla, the head of the US Central Command, hailed Pakistan as a phenomenal partner of the US in countering terrorism.
On June 18, 2025, Trump held an unprecedented luncheon meeting with Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in the White House, Ramesh noted.
"Two months earlier, Munir's inflammatory, incendiary, and communally provocative remarks had provided the backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22, 2025," he said.
Just yesterday, the Congress leader claimed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and thanked Pakistan for its partnership in countering terrorism and preserving regional stability.
"The PM's clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, has already cost India heavily. His much boasted friendship with President Trump is now proving to be hollow," Ramesh said in his post.
