2018 Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala  The 2018 Kerala Nipah virus outbreak was an outbreak of the Nipah virus in a southern state of India called Kerala, traced to the fruit bats in the area. The outbreak was localized in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala and claimed 17 lives, The outbreak was contained and declared over on 10 June 2018. The index case of the outbreak was reported at sub-divisional hospital in Perambra in Kozhikode district on May 2. This patient—Mohammed Sabith—was later taken to the Government Medical College, Kozhikode for further treatment, where he later succumbed to the virus. Later, his brother Mohammed Salih was admitted to Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode, with suspected viral encephalitis. A team of doctors at Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozhikode suspected Nipah, as the symptoms were similar to that of his brother who had died by then. The samples were tested at the Manipal Institute of Virology where it was confirmed as a case of Nipah; samples were also tested positive at National Institute of Virology, Pune. Sabith had passed the virus to 16 persons at Medical College Hospital; later two more were infected, increasing the total count of infected to 18. There were 10 deaths in the first week, including a nurse named Lini Puthussery who treated the index patient before diagnosis. The outbreak began in Kozhikode district and later spread to the adjoining Malappuram district. Health advisories were issued for Northern Kerala as well as the adjoining districts of Karnataka, with two suspected cases detected in Mangalore on 23 May 2018. Over 2,000 people in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts were quarantined and kept under observation during the period of the outbreak. To fight the outbreak, M 102.4—a human monoclonal antibody for which clinical trials are still going on—was imported from Australia. This was facilitated by renowned Nipah researcher Christopher Broder. The outbreak also lead to the revival of World Health Organization's Nipah Drug Trials Group, lead by Soumya Swaminathan. After Sabith, 16 of the affected patients succumbed to the disease and two patients recovered fully. The outbreak was officially declared over on 10 June 2018. The presence of the Nipah virus in patients was confirmed from RT-PCR tests conducted at the Manipal Institute of Virology and the National Virology Institute, Pune.