Dubai: The UAE has asked its citizens to put off "unnecessary" travel to Kerala, where a nipah virus outbreak has claimed 11 lives while at least 40 others are in quarantine, the Gulf country's health ministry said in a statement.

The Kerala government has stepped up efforts to contain the outbreak.

The UAE ministry of health and prevention (Mohap) said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation.

"The ministry works with its strategic partners to assess the risk of importation of nipah virus cases to the country and put the necessary control measures. Also, Mohap is in continuous coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to implement the global recommendations," read the statement.

"Mohap alerts people travelling to Kerala to be aware of the possibility of contracting the infection and advises them to postpone unnecessary travel till the situation will be controlled," the statement added.