A local Indian medical official announced on Monday that a 24-year-old student in the southern state of Kerala had succumbed to the Nipah virus.
In an effort to stop the fatal illness from spreading, 151 individuals who had contact with the victim are now being closely monitored.
Since July, Nipah has claimed two lives in Kerala.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated nipah as a priority infection due to its propensity to start an epidemic.
There are currently no cure for the infection and no vaccine to prevent it.
Parts of Kerala are among those most at risk globally for outbreaks of the virus.
Nipah, which comes from fruit, bats, and animals such as pigs, can cause a lethal, brain-swelling fever in humans.
The student began experiencing fever symptoms on September 4 and died five days later, according to R. Renuka, a district medical officer in the town of Malappuram, which is in northern Kerala.
On September 9, a blood sample from the sufferer delivered to the National Institute of Virology in Pune was tested and found to be Nipah positive, Renuka stated.
Five other patients who have exhibited primary signs of a Nipah infection have had blood samples obtained and sent for testing, she said, without specifying whether they were primary contacts of the deceased.
Nearly 151 people are being monitored for any symptoms after they were found to be on the primary contact list of the victim, who had come from Bengaluru, she said.
This is the second Nipah infection-related fatality in Malappuram this year, after a 14-year-old boy died in July.
Nipah has been connected to dozens of deaths in Kerala since its initial appearance there in 2018.
