In May 2018, 23 cases of Nipah virus (NiV) infection were identified in Kozhikode District, Kerala State, India. The case-fatality rate reached 91%, with 21 individuals dying and only 2 surviving. While the outbreak lasted for< 1 month, it created fear and panic in the local community, as well as nationally and internationally, even overshadowing the concurrent Ebola virus outbreak in the Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the global news [1]. Early diagnosis and application of infection prevention and control measures were the main factors that quickly brought the Kerala NiV outbreak under control.

NiV is a single-stranded, negativesense RNA virus belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae [2]. NiV was first detected in Malaysia, during 1998–1999, where it caused severe febrile encephalitis and was initially misidentified as Japanese encephalitis virus. During that initial outbreak, 283 human cases of acute encephalitis were diagnosed (mainly in farmers), with 109 deaths. Direct contact with pigs was a risk factor, as pigs were identified as the intermediate host of NiV [3]. Subsequent ecological studies