Nipah virus scare in Kerala, 1 dead

Still reeling from the second wave of Covid-19, Kerala received yet another health scare as a 12-year-old boy died after testing positive for Nipah virus in Kozhikode on Sunday.

Still reeling from the second wave of Covid-19, Kerala received yet another health scare as a 12year-old boy died after testing positive for Nipah virus in Kozhikode on Sunday. Two health workers in contact with the boy developed symptoms of the virus.

The Centre has rushed a team of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to provide technical aid to the state health department. Sources in the state health department said the authorities were familiar with the protocols to be followed and the situation was unlikely to worsen. State health minister Veena George said the two infected persons were part of 20 high-risk contacts of the deceased.

“There is nothing to worry about. The health department is closely following up on the situation,” George said.

The state government has already formed separate teams for contact tracing and taken steps to isolate primary contacts. Police have also cordoned off about 3 kilometres around the boy’s house and a health alert has been declared in the district.

Meanwhile, the state continued to report a lion’s share of the country’s fresh Covid19 cases. While India reported 42,766 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, 29,682 of these were in Kerala alone.