Central team to arrive in Kerala as Nipah virus back in state

Thiruvananthapuram: The sample of a person, who died at Kozhikode following fever and breathlessness on Monday, tested positive for Nipah virus, said health officials on Tuesday.

As soon as the result of the sample from National Institute of Virology Pune came, a central team of top officials from Delhi will be arriving in Kozhikode, later in the day.

The 40-year-old person, who turned positive for Nipah virus, had come in contact with a relative last month.

The result of four more samples are awaited and it includes the family members of the person who passed away last month.

His relative turned feverish on August 22 and was admitted to a hospital near Kozhikode on August 25, but he died on August 30.

On August 25, the person whose sample turned positive came in contact and with the first person’s sample not sent for testing, it has been presumed that he too might have died of Nipah.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George, who arrived in Kozhikode on Tuesday and held detailed meetings with top health officials, said there is nothing to be worried but just caution has to be there.

She said the contact list of people, who came in contact with the two people, will be traced and all the necessary protocols, that are to be maintained, will be done.

The meeting also decided to ensure all adequate arrangements, including beefing up the health infrastructure, are taken care.

The present suspected case was reported about 15 km from where the initial Nipah virus outbreak in southern India was first identified in Kozhikode in May 2018 and then again in 2021.

Nipah virus infection is basically a zoonotic disease and can be transmitted from animals to humans, besides, it can spread through contaminated food or through contact.