One more individual suspected of having contracted the Nipah virus died on Sunday in Kozhikode district of Kerala. So far, the virus has killed at least 13 people.

Nine people suspected of carrying the virus have been admitted to Kozhikode Medical College, reported Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi. State Minister of Health and Social Welfare K K Shailaja said on Sunday that the health department has put at least 175 people, including family members of those infected by the virus, under observation.

Meanwhile, five medical professionals from Kerala will travel to Delhi for an intensive course at the Safdarjung Hospital to learn the treatment protocols to be followed in such cases, reported The News Minute.

Till Thursday, 14 of the 160 people examined for the virus had tested positive. The virus can be transferred from animals to humans. It causes fever and cold-like symptoms, before quickly advancing to encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, and myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart. There is no vaccine or cure for Nipah infection at present.

The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases on Friday found that body fluid samples collected from insectivorous bats in Changaroth gram panchayat in Kozhikode district, where the first Nipah-related death occurred, did not have the virus. But they have not ruled out the role of fruit bats in spreading the infection.