Govt mulling sending Central team to Kerala over fresh Nipah cases

New Delhi | The Union Health Ministry is considering deploying the National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Kerala to assist the government in implementing public health measures, following the detection of two Nipah virus cases, sources said on Saturday.

The Central Surveillance Unit of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC, is in close contact with the state unit and is actively monitoring the situation, they added.

The State Control Room has been activated for coordinating the various containment activities.

The public health response is guided by the Kerala State NiVD guidelines for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control.

"Although prima facie, the two cases are epidemiologically unlinked, the timelines of symptom onset and the possibility of a common social event connecting the two are being investigated," a source said.

So far, over 300 contacts have been identified across three districts: Pallakad, Mallapuram and Kozhikode.

A fresh case of Nipah virus was confirmed on Friday, in which a 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad tested positive, an official release said.

The infected patient is being treated at a private hospital in Malappuram district, official sources stated.

Additionally, the case of an 18-year-old girl who died in Chettiyarangadi, Malappuram district, suspected of being related to Nipah, was confirmed on Friday by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

State Health Minister Veena George informed that 345 people are on the Nipah contact list, with 211 in Malappuram, 91 in Palakkad, and 43 in Kozhikode.

Death of Malappuram girl confirmed as Nipah, Palakkad reports new case

Thiruvananthapuram | The recent death of an 18-year-old girl in Kerala's Malappuram district was confirmed as Nipah infection, health department sources here said on Saturday.

The patient, hailing from Chettiyarangadi in Malappuram, had succumbed after receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode district.

Initial tests indicated Nipah and the infection was subsequently confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune after sample examination, the sources said.

A 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad district also tested positive for Nipah, prompting the authorities on Friday to issue a strong warning to the public and health workers to remain extremely vigilant.

In view of the Nipah case reported in the district, health authorities in Malappuram initiated surveillance in 20 wards in panchayats like Makkaraparamba, Kuruva, Kootilangadi, and Mankada, an official statement said here on Saturday.

The objective was to identify the source of the disease and strengthen household-based awareness, it said.

A total of 65 teams visited 1,655 houses and found no one with symptoms of Nipah during the survey, the statement added.

State Health Minister Veena George held a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to review the situation.

She informed that 425 people are on the Nipah contact list, with 228 in Malappuram, 110 in Palakkad, and 87 in Kozhikode.

Of them, five people are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and the test result of another person in the contact list turned negative for the infection, the minister's office said in a statement.