India’s virus research and diagnostic laboratory network has expanded to 164 labs: ICMR-NIV Director
2 weeks, 1 day ago

India’s virus research and diagnostic laboratory network has expanded to 164 labs: ICMR-NIV Director

The Hindu  

Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology, Pune director Naveen Kumar on Sunday, March 9, said India’s Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory network has expanded to 164 labs, complemented by 22 new BSL-3 labs for faster outbreak response. Discussing India’s progress in viral disease surveillance, Mr. Kumar, highlighted the growth of virus detection capabilities, noting that the number of known viral species has risen from 213 in 1971 to over 15,000 in 2023. While Mr. Kumar spoke on epigenetic-targeted antiviral therapies, focusing on modifying m6A RNA methylation to combat viral replication, Siddappa Byrareddy, University of Nebraska, explored immunotherapeutic approaches for HIV treatment. E. Sreekumar, Institute of Advanced Virology, Kerala, provided insights into dengue virus-induced vascular leakage while B. Kavitha Rani, Veterinary College, Shivamogga, presented research on Kyasanur Forest Disease in monkeys.

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History of this topic

Vigyan Yuva awardee Pragya Dhruv Yadav: Breaking down viruses
7 months ago

Vigyan Yuva awardee Pragya Dhruv Yadav: Breaking down viruses

Hindustan Times  

Dr Pragya Dhruv Yadav, who heads the biosafety level-4 containment laboratory at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, is one of the winners of this year’s Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards in the Medicine category. BSL-4, which started functioning on December 28, 2012, is an apex laboratory for storage of eliminated viruses, viral haemorrhagic fever diagnosis, support for …

Epidemics such as Nipah virus outbreaks, Covid-19 originated from non-human source: Nadda to RS
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Epidemics such as Nipah virus outbreaks, Covid-19 originated from non-human source: Nadda to RS

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that epidemics such as Nipah virus outbreaks and Covid-19 originated from a non-human source and crossed over to humans at the animal-human interface, highlighting the importance of a One Health approach that integrates human, animal and environmental health for tackling emerging diseases. "These epidemics originated from …

Centre to deploy team to support Kerala in probing Nipah virus case
8 months ago

Centre to deploy team to support Kerala in probing Nipah virus case

New Indian Express  

NEW DELHI: The government will deploy a multi-member joint outbreak response team to support Kerala in investigating a Nipah virus case detected in its Mallapuram district, identifying epidemiological linkages and providing technical assistance. In a statement on Sunday, the Union health ministry said a 14-year-old boy from the district exhibited the acute encephalitis syndrome and was admitted to a healthcare …

Nipah centre will take up pioneering research work, says Veena George
1 year, 4 months ago

Nipah centre will take up pioneering research work, says Veena George

The Hindu  

The Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research will be developed to take up pioneering research that will serve as a model for the world, Health Minister Veena George has said. Ms. George said that with Kerala successfully battling recurring cases of the infection, it had unique experiences in containment steps. Ms. George said the centre would also have a …

75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, cautions Union Health Secretary
1 year, 5 months ago

75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, cautions Union Health Secretary

The Hindu  

Limited knowledge and skill to identify zoonotic diseases, coupled with limited diagnostic facilities at all levels has resulted in neglect of the infectious diseases due to zoonotic pathogens cautioned Union Health Secretary, Sudhansh Pant, on October 17. Mr. Pant made his comments while delivering the keynote address at the national conclave on “Augmented Zoonotic Diseases Surveillance at Human – Wildlife …

Lessons from Nipah outbreak in Kerala
1 year, 5 months ago

Lessons from Nipah outbreak in Kerala

Hindustan Times  

The Nipah Virus infection reported from Kozhikode, Kerala, coming in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, has attracted worldwide attention. The World Organisation for Animal Health observed that human cases have occurred sporadically in Bangladesh and India since 2003 without apparent related domestic animal disease outbreaks, suggesting possible human-to-human transmission. Covid-19 prompted the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory …

Inside the Race to Stop a Deadly Viral Outbreak in India
55 years, 2 months ago

Inside the Race to Stop a Deadly Viral Outbreak in India

Wired  

On the morning of September 11, critical care specialist Anoop Kumar was presented with an unusual situation. Digging deeper, they learned from the other hospital that Ali had also had some neurological symptoms, which had seemingly been overlooked by his doctors—he’d had double vision, suffered seizures, and spoken with slurred speech. Ali’s case reminded Anoop of May 2018, when he’d …

The anatomy of an outbreak — Breaking down Nipah
1 year, 6 months ago

The anatomy of an outbreak — Breaking down Nipah

The Hindu  

This week, the subject picked itself. The last week has been a frenzy that characterises every outbreak, as initial reports of two people dying of Nipah Virus came in, along with two other contacts of one victim also testing positive. With its multiple modes of transmission, including a propensity to spread as a nosocomial infection among healthcare workers, despite its …

Nipah Virus In India Mortality Rate 40-70 Percent ICMR DG Rajiv Bahl On Precautions Monoclonal Antibody Doses Nipah Virus Kerala
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah Virus In India Mortality Rate 40-70 Percent ICMR DG Rajiv Bahl On Precautions Monoclonal Antibody Doses Nipah Virus Kerala

ABP News  

In the face of the ongoing Nipah virus threat, Dr. Rajiv Bahl, the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, has emphasised a series of precautionary measures aimed at containing the virus's spread. Dr. Bahl notes a stark contrast between Nipah and COVID-19, with the former exhibiting a mortality rate ranging between 40% and 70%, far surpassing the relatively …

What lies behind the Nipah virus outbreak in India? | In Focus podcast
1 year, 6 months ago

What lies behind the Nipah virus outbreak in India? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

The Nipah virus is back in the news. The virus, first documented in Malaysia in 1998, is zoonotic, which means it is transmitted to people from animals, in this case the animals are believed to be the fruit bats of the Pteropus species. As of September 15, six people have tested positive for Nipah virus, and two have died. In …

Nipah virus outbreak in India: What do we know so far?
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah virus outbreak in India: What do we know so far?

Hindustan Times  

Authorities in India are scrambling to contain a rare outbreak of Nipah, a virus spread from animals to humans that causes deadly fever with a high mortality rate. Health workers collect blood samples from goats in the neighborhood for testing after a 12-year-old boy died of the Nipah virus in Kozhikode, Kerala. The first Nipah outbreak was recorded in 1998 …

Nipah virus top updates: Here’s how Kerala is prepared
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah virus top updates: Here’s how Kerala is prepared

Live Mint  

Nipah virus strain in Kerala is the Bangladesh variant that spreads from humans is characterised by high mortality despite lower infectivity. One more case, that is sixth, of Nipah virus was confirmed by Health Minister's Office in which a 39-year-old man who is under observation in a hospital in Kozhikode. In response to the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala's Kozhikode …

Nipah Virus: Karnataka heightens border vigilance as virus outbreak hits Kerala
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah Virus: Karnataka heightens border vigilance as virus outbreak hits Kerala

Live Mint  

Amid concerns over the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the Karnataka government has taken action to enhance surveillance in its border districts. As of now, Kerala has reported five cases of Nipah virus, with two of them resulting in fatalities, all of which have occurred in Kozhikode. As reported by ANI, in a circular issued by the Karnataka government, it …

Nipah outbreak: Centre sends teams to Kerala with lab units
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah outbreak: Centre sends teams to Kerala with lab units

Live Mint  

New Delhi: In view of Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the Union minister of state Bharati Pravin Pawar reviewed the steps taken by the Centre and the state governments to contain the spread of the virus. The Central government has deputed a high-level team from NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories to Kerala’s Kozhikode to conduct on-ground testing. …

Nipah virus outbreak: Kerala gets antibody, mobile lab to combat the virus
1 year, 6 months ago

Nipah virus outbreak: Kerala gets antibody, mobile lab to combat the virus

Live Mint  

The Indian Council of Medical Research Thursday delivered the monoclonal antibody to Kozhikode requested by Kerala to combat the Nipah outbreak in the district, PTI reported. The report said a five-member central team comprising experts from the National Centre for Disease Control, RML Hospital and NIMHANS has been stationed in Kerala to take stock of the situation and assist the …

Central and ICMR teams equipped with BSL-3 labs reach Kozhikode for on-ground testing of Nipah virus
1 year, 6 months ago

Central and ICMR teams equipped with BSL-3 labs reach Kozhikode for on-ground testing of Nipah virus

The Hindu  

High-level teams from the Centre and ICMR-NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories have reached Kozhikode and will be doing on-ground testing, said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar on September 14 after she reviewed steps taken for containment of Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, Kerala. Union Minister of State for Health …

5 Nipah virus cases in Kerala: Health worker infected, 706 people on contact list
1 year, 6 months ago

5 Nipah virus cases in Kerala: Health worker infected, 706 people on contact list

India Today  

Kerala’s Health Minister Veena George on Wednesday confirmed a new case of the Nipah virus in the state's Kozhikode district, taking the total number of affected persons to five. According to Veena George, at least 706 people were on the contact list of the health worker, which includes 153 health workers and 77 others in the high-risk category. NIPAH VIRUS …

Can India’s One Health Mission help tackle the rising number of infectious diseases? | In Focus podcast
1 year, 6 months ago

Can India’s One Health Mission help tackle the rising number of infectious diseases? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

Over the past few years, we’ve heard the names of a lot of new diseases – we had the Zika virus, the Nipah virus and even an Ebola scare, while the coronavirus pandemic rocked the country. India has a huge population, with large numbers of livestock reared and the additional issue of climate change events such as heatwaves and floods …

Govt bolstered steps to contain monkeypox virus: Mansukh Mandaviya
2 years, 7 months ago

Govt bolstered steps to contain monkeypox virus: Mansukh Mandaviya

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research has successfully isolated the monkeypox virus and an expression of interest has been floated for scientists and research institutions for the development of a vaccine, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Parliament on Tuesday. “Monkeypox cases started getting reported around the world in May and the first case in India was reported …

8 cases of monkeypox in India so far: minister
2 years, 7 months ago

8 cases of monkeypox in India so far: minister

Live Mint  

India has reported eight cases of monkeypox so far, the union health minister Mansukh Madaviya said on Tuesday. “The Indian Council of Medical Research has successfully isolated the monkeypox virus and an expression of interest has been floated for research institutions, vaccine and diagnostic kits manufacturers in India to take the virus strain for further research to develop a vaccine …

Eight cases of monkeypox, task force to monitor testing kit, vaccine development: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
2 years, 7 months ago

Eight cases of monkeypox, task force to monitor testing kit, vaccine development: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

The Hindu  

Eight cases of monkeypox have been reported so far in India and a national task force has been set up to monitor the development of diagnostics and vaccines, Health Minister Mansukh Madaviya said on August 2. Till date eight cases of the disease have been detected in India, out of which five have foreign travel history, the Minister of Health …

U.S. to fund 3 Indian research institutions
2 years, 9 months ago

U.S. to fund 3 Indian research institutions

The Hindu  

The United States has announced a funding of $122 million to top three Indian medical research institutions to prevent avoidable epidemics, early detection of disease threats, and rapid and effective response. The total funding of $122,475,000 will, over a period of five years, be distributed to the three top Indian health research institutions — Indian Council of Medical Research, National …

Govt Launches 'One Health' Consortium To Monitor The Spread of Bacterial and Viral Infections
3 years, 5 months ago

Govt Launches 'One Health' Consortium To Monitor The Spread of Bacterial and Viral Infections

News 18  

The Department of Biotechnology has launched a ‘One Health’ consortium that envisages carrying out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as well as transboundary pathogens in the country. The consortium envisages carrying out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as well as transboundary pathogens. Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic showed the relevance …

COVID-19 outbreak underlines need for India to develop its own epidemic intelligence service
3 years, 5 months ago

COVID-19 outbreak underlines need for India to develop its own epidemic intelligence service

Firstpost  

Recently both WHO and the US have announced the establishment of centres to monitor the emergence and spread of new diseases. We argue that it is in India’s national interest to develop its own National Epidemic Intelligence System {NEIS}, instead of only depending on global agencies. The USA’s CDC, WHO’s ECO-NET and Strategic Health Operation Centre{SHOC}, the Global Outbreak Alert …

Jodhpur Military Hospital Commissions Molecular Biology Lab for Covid-19 Tests
4 years, 7 months ago

Jodhpur Military Hospital Commissions Molecular Biology Lab for Covid-19 Tests

News 18  

The Jodhpur military hospital has commissioned an ICMR-approved molecular biology laboratory to conduct both Rapid Antigen test and confirmatory RT-PCR test for diagnosis of COVID-19 disease, an official said on Wednesday. Jodhpur Military Hospital has achieved the distinction of becoming the first zonal military hospital to have a molecular biological laboratory approved by Indian Council of Medical Research, Defence spokesperson …

Coronavirus | Key ICMR panel on vaccines dissolved
4 years, 10 months ago

Coronavirus | Key ICMR panel on vaccines dissolved

The Hindu  

The Indian Council for Medical Research has dissolved a key committee, which was part of the National COVID-19 Task Force and tasked with developing a research protocol, a team and partners for vaccines and drug development. The group for ‘Vaccines/Drug Research and Development’ — one among five constituted by ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava on April 6 — was to identify …

When a virus jumps: of man, microbes and pandemics
4 years, 11 months ago

When a virus jumps: of man, microbes and pandemics

Live Mint  

Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said last month that nature was sending humankind a “message” through the coronavirus pandemic and climate crisis. “Warm climate keeps becoming warmer and that’s what we have to prepare ourselves for.” ‘FLIGHT AS FEVER’ In the past, researchers have traced the origins of some of the deadliest animal-borne disease outbreaks to …

Coronavirus | More labs being opened by ICMR across country
4 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus | More labs being opened by ICMR across country

The Hindu  

Principal Scientific Adviser to the government K. VijayRaghavan on Monday said the the Indian Council of Medical Research is amplifying Coronavirus test sites and more laboratories are being opened across the country. He said the Indian industry is also working on vaccines, re-purposing, critical-care treatment and partnering with academia and start-ups. He also said efforts to increase test capacity by …

Coronavirus | Four ICMR labs to become approval centres for test kits
4 years, 11 months ago

Coronavirus | Four ICMR labs to become approval centres for test kits

The Hindu  

The Indian Council for Medical Research has approved three other centres, alongside the National Institute of Virology, as agencies for approving diagnostic kits. These are the National AIDS Research Institute, Pune; the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata; and the National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi, according to a notification issued by the ICMR, signed by Director General, …

India needs all hands on deck
5 years ago

India needs all hands on deck

The Hindu  

On February 6, the World Health Organization recognised the Pune-based National Institute of Virology as one of the 15 laboratories that would provide reference testing support for the novel coronavirus. “If we are not given an opportunity to develop these skill sets and not encouraged to participate, then how are we ever going to get good at it?” During the …

Government pulls up U.S. agency for work on Nipah virus
5 years, 1 month ago

Government pulls up U.S. agency for work on Nipah virus

The Hindu  

The Indian government has sharply censured the U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for funding an “unapproved” Indian laboratory in Manipal, and not securing the necessary permissions for undertaking training in India for work on Nipah virus, considered a potential bio-weapon. A memorandum sent out said the CDC was advised “to stop funding research without approval and working …

Bihar encephalitis deaths: Harsh Vardhan constitutes high-level multi-disciplinary team to monitor patients, find cause of viral disease
5 years, 9 months ago

Bihar encephalitis deaths: Harsh Vardhan constitutes high-level multi-disciplinary team to monitor patients, find cause of viral disease

Firstpost  

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said one more high-level multi-disciplinary team has been sent to Bihar for immediately undertaking the necessary groundwork to set up a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary research centre at Muzaffarpur. New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said one more high-level multi-disciplinary team has been sent to Bihar for immediately undertaking the …

India Beat One Of The World's Deadliest Viruses — And Made A Music Video About It
6 years, 8 months ago

India Beat One Of The World's Deadliest Viruses — And Made A Music Video About It

NPR  

India Beat One Of The World's Deadliest Viruses — And Made A Music Video About It YouTube The Nipah virus scare that shook India in May had all ingredients of an-edge-of-the-seat medical thriller like Outbreak: A country of 1.3 billion people and an encounter with one of the most lethal pathogens of our times. India's brush with Nipah can be …

‘Include Nipah in revised MBBS syllabus’
6 years, 9 months ago

‘Include Nipah in revised MBBS syllabus’

The Hindu  

The Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode district has prompted senior doctors to call for the inclusion of the epidemiology of this rare disease in the revised MBBS syllabus. Dr. Chandran said that many senior professors had not heard of the Nipah virus before the Kozhikode outbreak and it was from the media and the World Health Organization website that they …

Nipah virus: India seeks Austraila's help as death toll reaches 12, asks for antibody to test 'neutralisation' of virus
6 years, 9 months ago

Nipah virus: India seeks Austraila's help as death toll reaches 12, asks for antibody to test 'neutralisation' of virus

Firstpost  

In the wake of Nipah virus cases in Kerala, the Indian Council for Medical Research has written to the Queensland government in Australia asking it to provide an antibody developed to test if it can “neutralise” the virus in humans. New Delhi: In the wake of Nipah virus cases in Kerala, the Indian Council for Medical Research has written to …

Rajasthan health dept issues guidelines regarding Nipah Virus
6 years, 10 months ago

Rajasthan health dept issues guidelines regarding Nipah Virus

Hindustan Times  

The Rajasthan health department issued guidelines regarding Human Nipah Virus to all chief medical and health officers across the state. Director public health Dr VK Mathur in the letter on Wednesday asked all officials to be alert and enhance surveillance for acute encephalitis through integrated disease surveillance programme and to carefully review any unusual pattern. Clinics have been advised to …

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