Kerala: High alert in 3 districts after suspected Nipah virus cases

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6 hours ago

The Kerala government on Friday issued a high alert in three districts after two suspected cases of the Nipah virus were detected in the state, The Hindu reported. One of the cases was later confirmed.
The alerts were issued for Malappuram, Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.
The two cases included an 18-year-old woman from Malappuram, who died on Tuesday in Kozhikode from acute encephalitis syndrome, and a 38-year-old woman from Palakkad currently being treated in Malappuram, the newspaper reported.
The two women had shown symptoms consistent with the virus during routine testing. Subsequently, preliminary tests conducted at the government medical colleges in Kozhikode and Malappuram indicated the possibility of the virus, Manorama News reported.
The samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune in accordance with the standard protocol for confirmation. On Friday, the institute confirmed the infection in the 38-year-old woman, while the test result of the 18-year-old was awaited, The Hindu reported.
After the cases came to light, state Health Minister Veena George convened an emergency meeting and confirmed that preventive actions had been intensified in the state in line with the Nipah virus protocol, Hindustan Times reported.
George added that police assistance had been sought to help trace persons who may have been in contact with the suspected cases. State and district-level helplines were being set up to provide assistance, she said.
Twenty-six rapid response teams had been deployed to carry out contact tracing, monitor symptoms and spread public awareness.
Officials were also directed to investigate unnatural or unexplained deaths reported in the past few weeks, the minister said, adding that this was 'one of the key warning signs of a potential outbreak'.
The Nipah virus is a ' zoonotic illness ' transferred from animals such as pigs and fruit bats to humans. The virus can also be caught through human-to-human transmission.
It causes fever and cold-like symptoms in patients. The infection can also cause encephalitis, which is the inflammation of the brain, and myocarditis, or the inflammation of the heart, in some cases.
In May, a 42-year-old woman in Malappuram had tested positive for Nipah, The Indian Express reported. The woman, who was admitted with symptoms of encephalitis, recovered from the infection.
Since 2018, Kerala has experienced five Nipah outbreaks. According to The Indian Express, only seven patients who tested positive have survived till date: one in Kozhikode in 2018, another in Kochi in 2019, four in Kozhikode in 2023 and the 42-year-old woman in May.
In 2018, 17 out of 18 infected persons had succumbed to the disease, while one death was reported in 2021. In 2023, two deaths due to the Nipah virus were recorded. Last year, the state reported two deaths.