Kerala government confirms one case of Nipah virus in Kochi, assures preparedness

 Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja has confirmed one case of Nipah in Kochi on Tuesday.

A 23-year-old man from Ernakulam has been confirmed to be infected with the Nipah virus and has been admitted to the Kalamassery Medical College, while three others have been quarantined. Out of the four persons who are suspected to be infected, two are nurses, one is a relative of the confirmed victim while the other is an acquaintance.

Kerala Health Minister, K K Shailaja, however, asked people not to panic as the government had started with all precautionary measures even before the case was confirmed.

Here are the Kerala Health Minister's tweets:

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said that a team of six officers has already been sent to Kerala.

Here is the tweet:

The state health department confirmed the Nipah case after receiving test results from the National Virology Institute in Pune.

Those who are believed to have been in contact with the patient have been kept under observation and they are asked to report to the nearest medical facility if they develop influenza-like symptoms like fever, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat. The health department is on standby to handle any adverse situation.

The Kerala government has also stocked up necessary medicines. An isolation ward has been prepared at the Ernakulam Medical College.

This is the second outbreak of Nipah virus in Kerala. The first outbreak of Nipah Virus was in 2018, which claimed 17 lives.

The index case of the first outbreak in Kerala was reported at a sub-divisional hospital in Kozhikode district on May 2, 2018.  The patient, Mohammed Sabith was then taken to the Government Medical College, Kozhikode for further treatment where he later succumbed to the virus.  

The Nipah virus spreads from animals to humans and then to other humans. Fruit-eating bats of the family Pteropodidae were identified as the primary source of the infection and people were advised not to consume fruits partly eaten by bats. The outbreak was localized in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala and was contained and declared over on June 10, 2018. 

(With ANI inputs)