ICMR Team Deployed to Gujarat 'Chandipura Virus'

A national team of experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been deployed to Gujarat to investigate the Chandipura virus outbreak and strengthen the response to the disease. 

ICMR Director General Dr. Rajiv Bahl said the team is working with state authorities and other experts to understand the disease, control its spread and explore possible treatment approaches. 

Bahl said Chandipura outbreaks have occurred several times in the past, with the latest major outbreak reported about two years ago. He added that ICMR teams have been studying the disease in Gujarat



for the past two years to understand its causes and patterns.

“Several new things are being done there to understand, control and then eventually even treat the disease,” Bahl said. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also deployed a National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Gujarat and Rajasthan to strengthen the response to the outbreak. 

The response is being supported by disease surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), coordinated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) along with state surveillance units.