New Delhi: In response to the rising threat of Chandipura Virus Disease (CHPV) in western India, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deployed a multidisciplinary National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Gujarat and Rajasthan. The high-level deployment marks one of the most extensive scientific and public health investigations undertaken for the viral infection in recent years, aimed at bolstering state-level response mechanisms, diagnostic capabilities, and field surveillance.
The central response team brings together senior specialists from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD). Operating in tandem with regional health authorities, the multidisciplinary group is executing a comprehensive strategy that spans epidemiological assessments, vector control, clinical management, and laboratory co-ordination. Central health authorities have also activated the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre at the NCDC to monitor real-time data and field developments.
Premier research institutions across the country have aligned their resources to decode the clinical spectrum and transmission dynamics of the virus. Experts from the ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune, the National Institute of Epidemiology in Chennai, the National Institute of Vector Control Research in Puducherry, and the ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics in Bengaluru are working directly with state officials in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Active surveillance has been significantly intensified across affected districts, focusing on patients presenting with Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). Simultaneously, community-based serosurveys are underway to measure asymptomatic transmission and determine the true scale of the outbreak.
A major objective of the ongoing scientific probe is establishing the definitive transmission cycle of the virus. While sandflies are historically recognized as the primary vector, entomologists are evaluating whether other arthropods, such as mosquitoes, ticks, and mites, are contributing to disease spread. Health officials emphasized that vector identification remains pending laboratory analysis of extensive field samples, drawing lessons from the 2024 outbreak where vector testing yielded inconclusive results. Furthermore, animal surveillance has been expanded to assess potential domestic reservoirs, with over seventy blood and milk samples collected from livestock undergoing laboratory testing. Genetic studies are also underway at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre in Gandhinagar, where whole-genome sequencing has indicated minor genetic variations that require detailed comparative analysis. The overarching strategy leverages India’s Hospital-based AES Surveillance Network across fifteen tertiary care centres to ensure evidence-based containment.
