OREANDA-NEWS. Authorities in the Indian state of Karnataka have declared a high alert in several areas after the discovery of the dangerous nipah virus in the neighboring state of Kerala, the regional health ministry said.

Earlier it was reported that symptoms of the deadly nipah virus were detected in 11 people in the Indian state of Kerala, their condition is stable. All of these people were in contact with a 12-year-old boy who died from the nipah virus. After the death of the child, state doctors began checking 251 people who had contact with him.

Karnataka's health ministry guidelines state that those arriving from Kerala should be monitored for symptoms such as fever, mental changes, severe weakness, headache, respiratory failure, cough, vomiting, muscle pain, cramps, and diarrhea.

At the same time, Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar noted that not a single case of this most dangerous disease has been registered in the state.

The nipah virus is spread by flying foxes and mice. The virus is usually transmitted to people who have eaten fruit that has been contaminated with saliva from an infected animal. The World Health Organization calls this virus one of the most dangerous in the world, there is no medicine or vaccine for it, and the mortality rate of the disease ranges from 40 to 75%. Earlier, the Indian authorities reported four outbreaks of the disease - in 2001 and 2007 in West Bengal, in 2018 and 2019 - in Kerala.