The Kozhikode district administration has announced closure of all educational institutions, including professional colleges, for three days till Saturday following the outbreak of the Nipah virus.

All public functions, cultural programmes and sports events have been suspended till September 24. The authorities also requested to conduct religious events — that has been scheduled before the virus outbreak — with very minimal participation.

Kozhikode has reported five confirmed cases of Nipah, including two fatalities. As many as 58 wards across nine panchayats in Vadakara taluk have been declared containment zones. Health Minister Veena George alerted neighbouring districts of Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad to remain vigilant. The Minister informed the Assembly that samples of 35 symptomatic people have been collected, and the test results of 22 people are out. Of this, five tested positive, and 14 people are in isolation.

The Minister also assured the House that the Health Department was prepared to handle the crisis.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has stepped up its efforts to screen those sick travelling through the border districts of Kerala to prevent virus entry. The authorities announced that travellers from Kerala would be subjected to medical tests, and those with flu symptoms would be isolated.

Strengthening the efforts to contain the Nipah virus infection, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology rolled out a fully-equipped mobile virology testing laboratory. More samples can be tested with the mobile lab reaching Kozhikode. Biosafety Level 2 (BSL) plus Level 3 practices can be done in the lab, where two machines will work simultaneously. At any given point of time, each machine can handle around 96 samples, and a total of 192 samples can be tested in the two machines.

RGCB Director Chandrabhas Narayana said the services of six experts have been made available in the mobile unit, which can give results within six hours after testing the samples. The mobile lab will be deployed right at the containment zone. Any small number of samples can also be tested to provide prompt results to the public. The mobile facility can collect samples in a designated area accessible from the vehicle’s rear. These samples are transferred through a UV-illuminated pass box to maintain a controlled and safe environment.

The Centre has also rushed a team of five experts to monitor the situation. ICMR team has set up a mobile laboratory to speed up the testing process.

The Minister had stated in the Assembly that the Nipah strain found this time is the Bangladesh variant, which is less infectious but has a high mortality rate. This strain spreads from human to human.

However, the government has been conducting rigorous surveillance and contact tracing, maintaining containment zones etc. Scientists from NIV Pune are also conducting bat surveys as part of the ongoing efforts.

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