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Traders at the Central Market fear a possible shortage of fruits and vegetables as according to them the Customs Department is refusing to give a clearance for consignments from India following Nipah outbreak.

The outbreak of Nipah virus, which has resulted in the death of ten people in Kerala, has already affected India’s fruit exports, according to Indian Commerce Ministry. The virus, which is released through bats’ saliva, urine and excreta, typically spreads due to bats consuming fruits on trees. Specifically, it is the Greater Indian Fruit Bat, found abundantly across South Asia, which carries the Nipah virus. The Indian Commerce Ministry has said it is monitoring the outbreak and will asses if the virus will bear implications for the country’s fruit exports.

Since these bats feed on any fruit they can find, there’s a risk of exports of many fruits getting affected. The deaths in Kerala is the third instance in India’s history of a Nipah virus outbreak, the first two times being in West Bengal’s Siliguri in 2001 and Nadia in 2007. This time around, the outbreak has been detected in the Southern state, where the first victims were three members of a family in Kozhikode, followed by a nurse who took care of the infected.