Nipah virus can spread by respiratory droplets and has a fatality rate of 40 to 70 per cent, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General, Dr Rajiv Bahl, said on Friday. In comparison, Covid has only "2-3 per cent fatality rate", he said at a press conference here.

"Nipah is a zoonotic virus (transmission of virus from animal to humans)," said Bahl noting that "fruit bats are the reservoirs" of the virus. "It can be spread via droplets, besides blood and bodily fluids," he said. Despite the high death rate, Bahl said that the virus is not as transmissible as Covid and has small episodes, with maximum cases going up to 100.