In Kerala, the pathogen was first identified in 2018, in an outbreak which claimed the lives of 17 people. The virus has sporadically reared its head in the region in the years since, with the most recent outbreak last September killing two and infecting four others. Then, schools and offices were shut and at least 800 people tracked down as the state raced to contain the spread.
There is little else that can be done. Despite a “priority pathogen” for the WHO, there are still no vaccines or drugs to specifically target the virus.
Several shots are in development, including candidates at the companies Auro Vaccines and Public Health Vaccines, as well as at the universities of Oxford and Tokyo. And earlier this month, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi) announced that a new monoclonal antibody treatment will progress to human trials in India and Bangladesh next year.
But Prof Linfa Wang, an emerging infectious disease specialist at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, told the Telegraph that there is also an urgent need for rapid diagnostics, to reduce reliance on laboratory tests in an outbreak setting.
“We need a rapid test like the one we used for Covid. There is effort in doing just that, including our team here in Singapore. But the irony is that we need more cases to validate the test,” he said.
He added that the latest outbreak is a reminder of the threat, but not yet cause for global alarm.
“It’s complicated: on one hand, we should be worried about non-stop spill over on a yearly basis; but on the other hand, it ironically means the virus is not very transmissible despite the “frequent” jumping of species,” Prof Wang said. “Overall, I don’t think we need to be too worried at this stage.”
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