Karnataka health dept issues guidelines over Nipah outbreak in Kerala. Details
The Karnataka health ministry advised the public to avoid unnecessary travel to Kerala state, and sought intensified surveillance in border districts.
The Karnataka health ministry on Thursday issued a circular in view of the Nipah virus outbreak in neighbouring Kerala, and advised the general public to avoid unnecessary travel to affected areas of the southern state. The health department also instructed officials to intensify surveillance in the districts that share a border with Kerala, which are namely, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Chamrajanagara and Mysuru.
“In view of reporting of 4 confirmed Nipah cases with 2 deaths in Kozhikode district of Kerala state, the surveillance activities in the districts bordering Kerala State need to be intensified to prevent the transmission of the infection,” the ministry said in the circular.
The department issued guidelines to healthcare officials across the state to prevent spread of infection and undertake surveillance activities.
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Some of these include setting up of check posts for fever surveillance at point of entries from Karnataka to Kerala, especially in border districts, raising awareness among the public regarding the disease and avoiding unnecessary panic, training health staff right up to Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) level, reserving at least two beds in district hospitals for quarantining patients suspected to have Nipah, and identifying negative pressure ICUs, among others.
The health department also advised the public as well as health staff to avoid unnecessary travel to Kerala.
Dakshina Kannada district sounds Nipah alert
The Dakshina Kannada district sounded an alert on Wednesday after confirmation of Nipah cases in Kerala, with health officials instructing local police to open check posts at border points.
The district prepared itself with isolation wards at key healthcare facilities and took other precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.
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