Health Ministry Deploys Response Teams to Gujarat and Rajasthan Over CHPV Outbreak

PTI, August 5, 2026, New Delhi:The Union Health Ministry has deployed a National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Gujarat and Rajasthan to strengthen the response to the ongoing Chandipura Virus Disease (CHPV) outbreak.

The deployment comes against the backdrop of sustained and intensified scientific investigations by a nationwide network of research institutions, alongside continuous disease surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), coordinated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in close collaboration with State Surveillance Units, the ministry said.

These coordinated efforts are aimed at advancing the understanding of the virus, including its transmission dynamics, clinical spectrum, epidemiology and potential treatment approaches, while guiding evidence-based public health interventions.

The NCDC Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) has also been activated to support the NJORT, the ministry stated.

The multidisciplinary NJORT, comprising experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), will supplement the efforts of the two state governments in outbreak investigation, epidemiological assessment, clinical management, laboratory coordination, vector surveillance and implementation of public health measures, it said.

The team will work closely with state health departments to review the on-ground response and submit recommendations to the ministry after completing its field assessment.

The deployment comes amid one of the most comprehensive scientific investigations undertaken for Chandipura virus in recent years, the ministry said in its statement.

Experts from ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, ICMR-National Institute of Vector Control Research (ICMR-NIVCR), Puducherry, ICMR-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, ICMR-National Institute for Pre-Clinical Research (ICMR-NIPCR), Hyderabad, and ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru, are working in close coordination with the Gujarat State Health Department to investigate the outbreak.

The collaborative exercise brings together specialists in epidemiology, virology, entomology, veterinary sciences and laboratory diagnostics to understand the complete clinical spectrum of Chandipura virus infection, from mild febrile illness to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), and generate evidence for strengthening public health interventions, the statement said.