After unconfirmed reports pouring in of a seven-year-old boy from Malappuram district of Kerala suffering from West Nile Virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne disease, mostly reported in the continental US, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said it is closely monitoring the situation. The virus is mostly spread through the bite of the mosquito.

According to the US-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC), one in five persons infected by the virus develop fever and 1 in 150 infected persons develops serious, sometimes fatal, illness.

The Ministry has spoken to the State Health Minister of Kerala in this regard. “Union Health Minister JP Nadda has directed that all support is extended to Kerala for its prevention and management,” a press statement from the Ministry said.

The Union Health Secretary held a meeting with Additional Chief Secretary, Rajeev Sadanandan, Kerala, and reviewed the situation. The Health Ministry has dispatched a multi-disciplinary Central team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The Central team includes Ruchi Jain, RHO Trivandrum; Suneet Kaur, Assistant Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); E Rajendran, Entomologist, NCDC, Calicut; and Binoy Basu, EIS Officer, NCDC. The team will support the State Health Authorities in managing the disease.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also been alerted and a close watch is being maintained at the Central and state level. There are no reports available so far of the spread of this virus in other parts of the country, the Health Ministry noted.

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