Kerala reports new Nipah virus case in Palakkad
The woman, who is a resident of Nattukkal, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district. Her samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for Nipah virus testing.
'The district collector informed me that the woman has tested positive for Nipah virus,' president of the local panchayat Muhammed Saleem KP said.
Saleem said that officials were directed to step up surveillance measures and declare certain areas as containment zones. 'Ward number 8 was declared as containment zones along with a few other wards, partially, that fall within a three-kilometre-radius,' he added.
The district health authorities have drawn up a list of the places the woman had travelled and may have come in contact with people before testing positive.
Also Read: Why the inability to identify the Nipah virus sources is a concern in Kerala
At least 100 people are expected to be high-risk contacts of the Nipah patient, an official said.
State health minister Veena George said that protocols for Nipah virus were already implemented in Malappuram, Palakkad and Kozhikode before the test results came in.
'As part of the protocols, 26 teams have been formed in each region for contact tracing, monitoring symptoms of quarantined people and informing the public,' he said.
Also read: Nipah test results of 13 people turn -ve, no new cases in state
Nipah virus, which originates from fruit bats and animals like pigs, can cause a severe brain-swelling fever in humans. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the virus as a priority pathogen due to its potential to trigger epidemics. There is no vaccine yet to prevent Nipah virus infection, nor is there any specific treatment for it. Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, sore throat, vomiting, and disorientation. Deaths may occur in 40% to 75% of cases, and the virus has a high mortality rate.
Kerala has been reporting Nipah virus infections almost every year since 2018. In the first outbreak that year, 17 people died. In 2019, a single case was reported, and the patient recovered. In 2021, a 12-year-old boy succumbed to the infection. The 2023 outbreak saw eight confirmed cases, of which two patients died while the others recovered. In 2024, two deaths were reported. Most recently, in May this year, a 42-year-old woman tested positive and recovered.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Vacancy of senior resident doctors emerges as a concern at Kozhikode MCH
Vacancies of senior resident (SR) doctors have reportedly emerged as another concern at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, which is already hit by the shortage of staff doctors and house surgeons. SRs are doctors who have completed their postgraduate courses, such as Doctor of Medicine (MD). Along with house surgeons – medical graduates who have completed their course and are doing their mandatory internship – and postgraduate students, they offer valuable service to the medical college hospital systems. According to reliable sources, the Department of General Medicine at the Kozhikode MCH has vacancies for seven SRs. Of the 10 posts, only three are at present working there. From the Department of Surgery, one SR has been posted in the plastic surgery section on a temporary basis. The Department of Gynaecology has two vacancies, the Department of Pulmonary Medicine has one vacancy, and the Department of Anaesthesia has three vacancies. There is a shortage of SRs in super-speciality departments as well, with the Department of Emergency Medicine reporting a vacancy of two. This is also one of the results of the transfer of SRs from here to other government medical college hospitals in Manjeri, Wayanad, and Kasaragod, ahead of the inspection by the National Medical Commission. It has also been alleged that those who have cleared MD from here are getting posted as SRs elsewhere. The sources say that this situation is putting extra pressure on final-year postgraduate students, who are also appearing for their exams now. Along with this come the arrangements in wards for admitting patients with suspected Nipah symptoms. Meanwhile, the hospital authorities' attempt to appoint non-academic junior resident doctors (NAJR) - MBBS graduates who have completed their course, but are not doing any PG course – through a walk-in interview has received a lukewarm response. The sources claim that only three or four persons attended the interview for the purpose held on July 4. The applicants are learnt to be blaming the lack of clarity on duty timings and postings in the interview notification for the poor response. The authorities tried to take in NAJRs in view of the culmination of the tenure of the 2019 batch of around 240 house surgeons. A new batch is yet to join duty. Though the Directorate of Medical Education approved the appointment of 120 NAJRs, only around 45 people appeared willing to join duty. Even among them, many postponed their joining date up to July 20, citing academic commitments.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Kerala to launch antibody surveillance studies on Nipah virus
Nipah virus (NiV) has surfaced in Kerala yet again, making this the eighth appearance in as many years. Whether virus spillovers (single index case, with no secondary cases in the community), or outbreaks (spillover with subsequent cases), Kerala has primed its response to the virus, seamlessly managing early detection, limiting the transmission and successfully saving lives. However, in all these encounters with NiV, researchers have identified several missing links or knowledge gaps. These pertain to the exact virus spillover mechanism from bats ( the fruit bats of the Pteropus species are the proven natural reservoir hosts of NiV) to humans; the recurrence of the spillover events/outbreaks in a specific geographic belt in northern Kerala and how exactly human behaviour, land use and bat ecology interactions are facilitating the virus spillovers. 'We have toyed with several hypotheses regarding the spillover mechanism. Are direct spillovers possible in areas near bat colonies , such as through droplet transmission from bat secretions or poop? Can individuals be indulging in high-risk behaviours, such as consuming bat meat (evidence of NiV in internal organs of bats has been reported)?,' said T.S. Anish, a public health expert who heads the Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience, Kozhikode. The possibility that NiV transmission to humans could be through fruits bitten by bats has remained conjecture at best because NiV has never been isolated in any fruit samples collected and tested during outbreak investigations in Kerala. NiV RNA has been detected in date palm sap in Bangladesh but live virus has never been isolated from any field samples. But the link between consumption of raw date palm sap in Bangladesh and human NiV infections is strongly supported by epidemiological and experimental evidence. Also, as NiV is an enveloped virus, its ability to remain infectious on a fruit in an outdoor environment is extremely fragile, said Dr. Anish Intermediate hosts? 'Our current thinking about NiV spillovers strongly leans to the fact that there is an indirect transmission route to humans, involving an indirect host. Ephrin B2, the main cell receptor used by NiV for infecting host cells is highly conserved in all mammals, which means that all animals like dogs or cattle or pigs could harbour the virus, as has been demonstrated in Malaysia and Bangladesh,' he pointed out. None of the animal samples sent so far to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal have so far turned out to be NiV positive. However, it is also a fact that NiV research is relatively nascent and that the research institutions in the country, including the National Institute of Virology, are still in the process of developing antibody markers and testing assays specific to NiV. PVNT platform Thus, while Kerala's public health response against NiV infections has been effective, the development of a novel pseudovirus neutralization test (PVNT) platform, based on a Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) system at the State's Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV), Thonnakkal has opened up new research possibilities on Nipah. IAV has developed a novel way of generating non-infectious Nipah virus-like particles (VLPs) as well as pseudovirions in the laboratory, which mimic the wild type NiV. These engineered 'ghost viruses' carry most of the characteristics of the virus, including the NiV structural proteins G, F, and M, except their ability to replicate (because it lacks the viral genome). VLPs and pseudovirions have long been recognised as effective platforms for studying cell binding and entry kinetics of the virus. These VLPs and pseudovirions mimic viral entry but can only undergo a single round of infection and cannot replicate and reproduce infectious viruses, making them safe to handle in standard Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) facilities. PVNT-based serological survey 'We are proposing a pseudovirus neutralisation assay-based serological survey among potential intermediate animal hosts and high-risk human populations in areas of previous NiV spillovers, with the collaboration of various stakeholders, including the departments of Health, Animal Husbandry, Forests and wildlife. The proposal is to collect healthy domestic animal blood samples (cattle, pigs, goats, dogs and cats) and human samples from within a few km radius of Nipah hotspots,' E. Sreekumar, the Director of IAV, told The Hindu. Serum samples will be tested using the IAV's VSV-based PVNT assays. The assay measures the ability of IgG antibodies in human/animal serum to neutralise these pseudovirions, thereby preventing infection of target cells. Infectivity and neutralisation, is quantified by measuring the expression of a reporter gene incorporated into the pseudovirus genome Positive PVNT results will indicate the potential of those animal species as intermediary hosts and such samples will be further tested against live Nipah virus in a BSL-4 facility with the help of NIV, Pune. This study is expected to provide robust data on NiV seroprevalence in high-risk human and animal populations in Kerala and open the doors to the mystery of NiV disease spillover and transmission pattern in the State. Futuristically, the successful validation of serological data and its integration with geo-spatial analysis will enhance Kerala's diagnostic and surveillance capabilities for NiV, it is hoped
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Business Standard
Centre to deploy team for health measures after Kerala confirms Nipah case
The Centre will deploy a team of experts to support Kerala in public health measures following the confirmation of at least one Nipah virus case in the state, according to sources. This comes after the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on Friday confirmed Nipah infection in a 38-year-old woman from Palakkad district. The affected patient is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Malappuram. Tests are also ongoing for samples from an 18-year-old girl, who had succumbed to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Kozhikode three days ago. Health authorities in these three districts have been put on high alert, with officials working on contact tracing and quarantining people who could be at risk of infection. Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that a total of 345 people have already been traced as possible contacts for the two patients. 'Out of these, 211 people are in Malappuram, 91 in Palakkad and 43 in Kozhikode district,' she added. Reports suggest that at least 26 rapid response teams have been set up in each of the three affected districts in response to the evolving situation. These teams will carry out contact tracing, symptom monitoring and public awareness. Nipah is a zoonotic virus that is transmitted from animals to humans, with the fruit bat being a natural carrier of the virus. Kerala has been reporting Nipah outbreaks for the past few years, starting in 2018 when 17 persons had died due to the infection. The latest case had come in May this year when a 42-year-old woman tested positive for the virus, but recovered.
