Fruit bats identified as source of Nipah virus spread
Thiruvananthapuram, July 3: Fruit bats were the source of Nipah virus which created havoc in Kerala's Kozhikode in May according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an official said on Tuesday.
Kerala Health Secretary Rajiv Sadanandan said that tests of the first batch of 21 bats were were negative, but the second set of tests done on 55 fruit bats from Kozhikode confirmed that the nocturnal mammals were behind the spread.
Sadanandan told IANS that Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Tuesday confirmed the latest test results.
At least 13 people died and more than 2,000 were kept under observation when the virus struck in May. Most of them were from Kozhikode district and some from Malappuram.
Even when the final green signal came from Kerala health authorities that the fear of the spread has been contained, the source of the virus outbreak was yet to be ascertained.
The ICMR is the country's premier body engaged in formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
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Jhansi: Dalit youngster assaulted, stripped after picking him up on pretext of giving cigarettes
Jhansi: A Dalit youngster was assaulted and humiliated by a group of men in a village under Premnagar police station limits on November 22, after being taken away on the pretext of being offered a cigarette. The incident came to wider attention after a video of the assault surfaced on Thursday.
According to the complaint, the youngster was standing near Goswami Restaurant in Rajgarh when Nishant Saxena, Sukrit and Kanishk approached him and asked him to accompany them. He was allegedly taken on a scooter to Saxena’s house, where two others Bhanu Pal and Ravindra were present. The group is accused of beating him with slippers, fists, kicks and sticks, abusing him with caste slurs, recording the assault on video and threatening him with a firearm, The Observer Post reported.
The video shows the youth being repeatedly slapped and kicked, forced to apologise, and made to touch one of the assailants’ feet. It also shows a man, identified as Saxena, pointing a firearm at him and ordering him to undress. The youngster is heard pleading with folded hands, saying he does not want to be taken to the police station.
CO Sadar Ramveer Singh said a case has been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He confirmed that three accused Sukrit, Anand Nayak and Kanishk Ahirwar have been arrested, while the main accused, Nishant Saxena, remains absconding.
