Dead bats fuel Nipah fears in HP
SIRMAUR/KOZHIKODE: Eighteen dead bats found in a government school compound Wednesday triggered fears of Nipah virus infection in Nahan, in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district on Thursday, the day the disease claimed its 12th victim in Kerala.
Fluid samples of the dead bats found in Burma Papri School have been collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing for Nipah.
Fruit bats from the Henipavirus genus of Paramyxoviridae family, found abundantly across India, are natural hosts of NiV, but the virus is known to jump from bats to other animals and humans, which it did in Kerala’s Kozhikode for the first time this year to infect 14 people and kill 12.
The results of 20 people who were in close contact with those infected are yet to arrive. Blood samples of at least 80 people, including the hospital staff and people who were in direct contact with the victims, have been sent for an examination, officials said.
Though the state health department has described the infections as “highly localised” – after the virus jumped from bats to humans, it spread through direct contact with body fluids -the deaths have fuelled a nationwide fear of bats.
“On the face of it, it appears that bats died due to heat and we have confirmed the same from locals. As a precautionary measure, samples of bats have been sent to Pune,” said Sirmaur deputy commissioner Lalit Jain.
“We have learnt that a cook set up makeshift kitchen to prepare community meal and the excess heat led to the bats dying, but we can ascertain the cause only after we receive the lab reports from Pune,” said Sanjay Sharma, chief medical officer, Sirmaur.
“Himachal has lots of species of bats. Many species have already been declared vermin,” said a forest department official who did not want to be named.
In Kerala, the 12th victim was identified as Valachekutti Moosa, 62, a members of the family that has lost four people to the infection. Fruit bats in the well in the backyard of their residence were found to be carrying the virus.
Among observation awaiting results are three from Karnataka’s Mangaluru who had a travel and contact history with infected families in the Nipah-hit districts in Kerala, but they have not developed symptoms.
The Kerala government called an all-party meeting on Friday and issued an advisory to travellers to avoid unnecessary travel to the four north Kerala districts: Kozhikkode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur. Fear of infection has driven at least 90 families to leave their homes in Changaroth, Koorachundu and Chakkittapara villages in Kozhikode.
Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have shut down all anganwadis, day schools, creches and postponed admissions and examination. Both districts have stocked up on the anti-viral medicine, Ribavirin, to treat Nipah.
MINISTRY ADVISORY
NEW DELHI: Amid fears that the virus has spread to other states, the Union health ministry late on Thursday issued an advisory for the general public and the healthcare personnel, mentioning the preventive measures that they should adopt in high-risk areas, along with information on how the disease spreads and what are the symptoms.
The ministry has asked to avoid consuming raw date palm sap or toddy, half-eaten fruits from the ground and refrain from entering into abandoned wells and eat only washed fruits. PTI