Think Nipah has spread to your city? Here's its state-wise status update

As concern over the Nipah virus outbreak increases with the infection claiming at least 16 lives in Kerala, state governments across the country are gearing up for any incidence of infection in their respective jurisdictions.

Over the past two weeks, in the wake of Nipah's spread, state governments in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Telangana, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have issued health advisories to warn people of the dangers as well as the symptoms of the infection. In these advisories, the authorities have asked people to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of Nipah.

Further, any cases of low-grade fever among people are advised to be reported to hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has written to the Queensland government in Australia, asking it to provide an antibody developed there to test if it can "neutralise" the virus in humans.

"We have asked them to give their monoclonal antibody for conducting a test in India to find out if it can neutralise the Nipah virus in humans. The antibody has only been tried in vitro (happening outside the body in artificial conditions, often in a test tube) and has been found to be effective. But it has not been tested on humans," said ICMR Director General, Dr Balram Bhargava, while clarifying that it will not lead to the creation of a vaccine.