- Two deaths reported from Kerala’s Kozhikode district were caused by Nipah virus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
- He said a central team of experts has been sent to Kerala to take stock of the situation and assist the state government in the management of the Nipah virus infection.
- Two “unnatural deaths” following fever were reported from Kozhikode on Monday. Relatives of one of the deceased are also admitted to the ICU, the Kerala health department said in a statement issued last night.
- Following the deaths, the health department sounded an alert in the district.
- Kozhikode had also reported deaths due to Nipah virus in 2018 and 2021.
- There are no treatments or vaccines against the virus.
It has been confirmed that the two deaths reported from Kozhikode were caused by Nipah virus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told reporters. A central team of experts has been sent to the state to take stock of the situation. It will also help the state government in the management of the infection, he said.
Earlier in the day, the Kerala government set up a control room in Kozhikode and advised people to use masks as a precautionary measure. Mass testing will begin in the area where the latest cases of the Nipah virus were found and some quarantine measures have been put in place.
The samples sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune were of one of the deceased and four of his kin. The minister said that three of the five samples have tested positive – one of the deceased and two other people who are undergoing treatment, including a nine-year-old boy.
An official from the virology institute said that one person infected with the Nipah virus died this month while the other death occurred on August 30, reported the media.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government is viewing the two deaths seriously. He, however, said there is no need to worry as most of those who were in close contact with the deceased are under treatment. Kerala Health Minister Veena George chaired a high-level meeting to evaluate the situation in Kozhikode. She said the entire health machinery in the district is on alert. Kozhikode had also reported deaths due to the Nipah virus in 2018 and 2021.
This is the fourth Nipah outbreak in Kerala since 2018. Twenty-one of the 23 infected people died when Kerala first reported the Nipah outbreak in 2018. In 2019 and 2021, Nipah claimed two more lives. The virus is transmitted to humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs, or other people. It was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illness affecting pig farmers and others in close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore.
There are no treatments or vaccines against the virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals. It can also be transmitted through contaminated food or from one person to another. It causes a range of illnesses, from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis, among infected people.
(With inputs from agencies
