Lessons for other states: How Kerala contained Nipah virus outbreak

The way the potentially deadly virus hit Kerala without warning and the intensive efforts made by the state health authorities to contain its spread, has lessons for other states

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath had taunted Kerala during a recent visit, asking it to take lessons from UP in healthcare. He was referring to the previous year’s dengue deaths. Most people found his speech, coming close on the heels of child deaths in Gorakhpur’s BRD Hospital, hilarious. However, some doubts persisted regarding Kerala’s ability in containing outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Then Nipah happened.

The way the potentially explosive epidemic was contained by the authorities in Kerala is praiseworthy, and has lessons for other states. It seems Adityanath still has much to learn from Kerala, especially as the annual vector-borne