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Nipah virus back, student tests positive in Kerala

The virus infection outbreak was reported in Kozhikode in May last year with 18 confirmed cases and 17 deaths.

Kochi: The deadly Nipah virus has returned to the state after a year with a 23-year-old student testing positive for the zoonotic infection.

Five others were also put under close observation in isolation wards after they exhibited symptoms of the deadly disease on Tuesday.

“We received the report from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, which confirmed the Nipah virus infection. There is no need for panic as we’ve already taken elaborate measures to tackle the emergency,” health minister K. K. Shailaja told reporters here.

Four, including a close friend of him and three nurses who treated him initially, were shifted to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College with symptoms like fever and sore throat.

An outsider admitted with the disease symptoms was also shifted there. A relative of him, a native of Ezhikkara near North Paravur, too will be moved here shortly.

The virus infection outbreak was reported in Kozhikode in May last year with 18 confirmed cases and 17 deaths.

There is no vaccine or proven medicine available for the treatment of the Nipah virus infection, though it can be controlled through proper preventive measures.

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