The deadly Nipah virus that struck Kozhikode district in Kerala last month and claimed 16 lives in the state has been finally contained and the last of the two positive cases have fully recovered, said Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Sunday.
Including Mohammed Sadik who was the first person suspected to have died of the infection, the death toll stands at 17.
The virus struck at Kozhikode which saw 13 people dying, while three deaths were reported from nearby Malappuram district, and more than 2,000 patients with fever was kept under close observation.
After presiding over a review meeting, the Health Minister told media persons that the virus scare is finally over.
"We visited the two Nipah positive patients who have been completely cured and according to many, this is something rare. The scare of this getting spread is finally over, as no more patients have tested positive, but a caution has to be there who are under observation, as they have to take complete rest," said Shailaja.
The district authorities, following the scare, had asked to wait for schools to reopen in the new academic year and now schools all set to open from Tuesday onwards while the ban on public functions has also been lifted.
The Kozhikode Medical College hospital, where a special Nipah ward was opened, is now seeing patients returning home, said an official.
Earlier on June 4, the state health department had declared that apart from the 18 positive cases, no new cases were reported. Of the total 244 samples sent for testing, as many as 226 samples turned negative, the department said.
The state department had confirmed that nobody has been affected with Nipah Virus since May 17.
In a press meet, KK Shylaja said that the anxieties about the second phase of Nipah Virus infection have been allayed but added that vigilance will continue till June 30.
(With IANS inputs)