A 14-year-old boy has died from the Nipah virus in Kerala, India.
According to Sky News, sixty more people are now being classified as "high risk" after potentially coming into contact with the virus.
The boy went into cardiac arrest after contracting the virus, which can cause a lethal, brain-swelling fever.
A Deadly Virus with No Cure
Nipah, which originates from fruit bats and animals, has no cure and no vaccine. It is classified as a "priority pathogen" by the World Health Organisation due to its potential to trigger an epidemic.
In a statement on Saturday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said the government has issued orders to set up 25 committees to identify and isolate affected individuals.
Dr. Anoop Kumar, director of critical care medicine at Aster MIMS Hospital in Calicut, reported that one positive case of Nipah had been diagnosed in a schoolboy, and people who had been in contact with him were being monitored.
"There is a minimal chance of a Nipah virus outbreak at this stage," he said, adding that the situation would be closely observed for the next seven to 10 days.
There are 214 people on the primary contact list of the boy, according to the statement. Among them, 60 are in the high-risk category, and isolation wards have been set up at health institutions to treat patients.
Family members of the affected patient were kept at a local hospital for observation, and others who might be at risk were asked to isolate at home.
Nipah has been linked to the deaths of dozens of people in Kerala since its first appearance in the southern state in 2018.
The virus was first identified 25 years ago in Malaysia and has led to outbreaks in Bangladesh, India, and Singapore.
