Nipah virus: Cooked meat safe, says medical expert

By Rathindra Kuruwita

People should not avoid the consumption of cooked meat in view of the Nipah virus, Dr Saranga Sumathipala, Consultant Virologist of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) said.

“We eat meat after cooking it well. When you cook well, any virus is destroyed.”

Sumathipala said Nipah outbreaks happened in Kerala in 2018, 2019 and 2021 but the virus had never spread outside of India.He said that Nipah is a very rare disease.

People get infected with the Nipah virus by consuming fruits that had come into contact with the secretion of bats, Consultant Medical Virologist at the Medical Research Institute Dr. Janaki Abeynayake told the media on Friday (22).

Pigs, too, can get the disease from bats, she said.

Meanwhile, Consultant Epidemiologist Samitha Ginige said the virus poses no threat to Sri Lanka.

“We are monitoring the situation in Kerala. There is no need to panic.