Nipah strikes, Centre rushes team to Kerala

The Centre has rushed a team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to Kerala to provide technical support to the State where a case of Nipah has been detected in the Kozhikode district, the Health Ministry said.

A suspected case of Nipah, a 12-year boy, who was hospitalised, passed away on Sunday morning. The Kerala Health Department has released the route map of the Nipah virus patient in Kozhikode while he was being taken to four different hospitals before succumbing on early Sunday morning, and has advised anyone who may have come in close proximity to exercise caution without panicking.

The Pune virology lab confirmed the infection late on Saturday night. The boy had been admitted to four hospitals, including the Medical College, and was on a ventilator for the past few days, the State Health Department said on Sunday.

Quarantine, isolation

The Centre has advised a search for active cases in the family, the village and areas with similar topography, especially in Malappuram, to trace active contacts during the past 12 days. It also advised for strict quarantine of the contacts and isolation of any suspects and collection and transportation of samples for lab testing.

Also read: Nipah virus: Healthcare staff, high-risk contacts hospitalised

It may be recalled that in 2018 also, there was a Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

Meanwhile, in Nipah-hit Kerala, two healthcare workers being kept under observation have developed what are thought to be symptoms of the infection and have been admitted into the special ward at the Government Medical College in Kozhikode city. Twenty other ‘high-risk’ contacts are in the same ward.

Source not yet identified

The Health Department is trying to identify the source of the infection. Unlike Covid, Nipah virus spreads only through close/physical contact.

An alert has been sounded in the neighbouring Malappuram district, which is as equally Covid-burdened as Kozhikode, as also Kannur to further north, sources said.

188 persons on the list

It is the third time in the last four years that the Nipah virus has struck Kerala. Health Minister Veena George said a list of 188 people, who are thought to have come into contact with the 12-year-old boy, has been drawn up. Of these, as many as 156 are healthcare workers, she added. At least 100 of these healthcare workers belong to the Medical College where the boy was treated, while 36 others were in the private hospital where he was treated last.

According to the Minister, a primary contact list of 20 people is ready. Parents of the deceased are in isolation at a relative’s house.

The Health Minister also said that a sample screening facility will be set up at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, under the auspices of the National Institute of Virology, Pune. This will help expedite testing of samples of those under observation for symptoms.

When the virus struck the State in 2018 in the same district of Kozhikode, 23 persons were identified with infection. Only two had survived from the deadly disease. In 2019, the virus made a fleeting presence in Ernakulam district, but the lone case of infection survived.

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