In a relief for Kerala, the test results of a total of 30 people who had come in close contact with the 12-year-old Kerala boy who died due to Nipah infection have come back negative, Health Minister Veena George said on Wednesday morning. Earlier, the test results of ten people, including the boy's parents and the symptomatic health workers who treated him, were found negative on Tuesday and on Wednesday, 20 more contacts have tested negative for Nipah virus.
Speaking to the media, the minister said that samples of 21 others have been sent for testing and the results of the same are awaited. The minister further said that presently 68 people are under isolation in Kozhikode Medical College and their health condition is stable. “Ten people were admitted to the hospital yesterday with mild symptoms,” said minister Veena George.
A team from the National Institute of Virology in Pune will be coming to Kozhikode, where the disease is reported, to collect samples of bats and other animals for ascertaining the source of the virus, the minister said. The NIV team will reach here within two days, she said. Intensive tracing, surveillance and awareness campaigns were being conducted to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the minister added.
Meanwhile, Veena George also added that there is no lack of coordination between departments. On questions about the difficulty faced by the Animal Husbandry Department in collecting swabs from wild boars, Forest Minister AK Saseendran said that necessary measures will be taken for it.
It was on September 5 that the 12-year-old boy in Kozhikode district succumbed after being infected with the Nipah virus, marking the third time that the disease has been reported in the state. The source of infection is yet to be ascertained.
In the 2018 first-ever Nipah outbreak, 17 people lost their lives. The second was in 2019 when a 23-year-old Ernakulam native was found to be infected by Nipah but fortunately, he recovered from the infection, without the disease spreading to anyone else. The Kerala government is now taking steps to ensure that this time too, the infection is contained.
(With PTI inputs)