KOZHIKODE: Virus Nipah claimed two more lives in Kerala on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 10, even as the Union health ministry asked people not to “panic” and said the outbreak is “unlikely” to spread as early and efficient containment measures were being taken. Of the 10 victims, two are from Malappuram district. Kozhikode Koorachundu native Rajan and Ashokan of Ummathur near Nadapuram died at Kozhikode medical college hospital and a private hospital, respectively. Both had tested positive to the virus.
Rajan was initially admitted at EMS Hospital in Perambra, the hospital where the first suspected case of the fatal infection, Sabith, was treated. Ashokan is learned to have come into contact with suspect cases. He is said to been initially treated at a hospital in Thalasserry. According to the district medical office, 12 of the 18 samples sent to the National Virology Institute in Pune had tested positive. Suspected samples are being sent to KMC Manipal every eight hours and further to Pune for final confirmation. Meanwhile, a team from All India Institute of Medical Sciences reached here on Tuesday evening and went into a huddle with experts.
The Union health ministry noted that the outbreak appeared to be a “localised" occurrence. The situation is under control, Union health minister J.P. Nadda said, after reviewing the situation in Kerala with Union health secretary Preeti Sudan and director-general, ICMR, Dr Balram Bhargava. Meanwhile, an expert team from the National Centre for Disease -Control (NCDC), including its director, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh and Head of Epidemiology, Dr S K Jain, are already in Kerala.
Surveillance has been increased in all districts. The outbreak of the virus is suspected to be from an unused well which was infested with bats and belonged to the Moosa family. Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus.
