After a 12-year-old boy died of the Nipah virus in Kerala’s Kozhikode, state health minister Veena George said that the Health Department’s priority was to strengthen contact tracing and find out the source of his infection. She said that there are chances that the boy might have come in contact with more people in the past few days. Samples of seven people, among the 20 high-risk contacts identified so far, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for testing. The child succumbed to the Nipah virus early Sunday morning.
"The most important job is to strengthen contact tracing. We are giving special training to our field workers. It is equally important to find the source of infection. Whether this child is the first to get infected or if he is not, from where did he get infected? We traced 188 contacts yesterday. There can be more contacts. We are trying to locate everyone," Minister Veena said.
She said that there are chances of an increase in the number of contacts as the parents had taken the child to a clinic first, then to a private hospital, then to the medical college, and from there to another private hospital.
"Samples of seven among the 20 high-risk contacts of the child have been sent to the Pune NIV. We are expecting the results to come today. We have also sought the help of NIV Bhopal. The Pune NIV will set up a testing facility at Kozhikode medical college today which will help us in getting the results faster," she said.
Watch: Minister Veena on sending samples for testing
The Chathamangalam Panchayat and adjacent areas were completely cordoned off after the boy, coming from the area, was found infected with the Nipah virus. The three-km radius from the boy's house is now a containment zone.
The Minister said on Sunday that two healthcare workers, who are among the 20 high-risk contacts of the deceased child, have been identified with symptoms of Nipah virus infection.
(With PTI inputs)