India has reached out to Australia seeking to restock monoclonal antibody doses to combat the Nipah virus and is expecting 20 more doses soon, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) head Dr. Rajiv Bahl said on Friday. He added that the monoclonal antibody has passed the phase-one trial and has been administered to 14 persons globally till now.
Stating that the aim as of now is to ensure that the Nipah virus is contained as fast as possible, he added that aggressive contact tracking is underway.
“The mortality among the infected is very high in Nipah — between 40% and 70% — compared to the mortality in COVID, which was 2% to 3%,” Dr. Bahl said, addressing a press conference. He asserted that all efforts are on to contain the spread of the virus in Kerala and noted that all patients, so far, are contacts of an index patient.
