Nipah: Preparing facilities, identifying high-risk contacts, says Kerala health min
Authorities declared containment zones in seven villages of the Kozhikode district, closing down schools, banks and other institutions
All necessary measures including identifying high-risk contacts, preparing treatment facilities and arranging medicines for those who have tested positive for Nipah virus are being taken, Kerala health minister Veena George informed the state assembly on Wednesday.
“The route maps of those who have tested positive and those who died will be published today. It will include all the places such as clinics and hospitals they visited while carrying the infection. This will help us locate more contacts. Similarly, 75 rooms in the pay ward of the Kozhikode Medical College hospital have been prepared to admit high-risk contacts of those who have tested positive,” George told the assembly.
The health minister also said that necessary doses of monoclonal antibodies, key to the treatment of Nipah virus infection, are being arranged. She added that she spoke to ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) officials regarding the same.
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A team from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune will arrive in the state to set up a mobile lab at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital.
Similarly, a team of epidemiologists will arrive from Chennai along with another team to survey the bat habitats in the state.
The index case in the outbreak, according to the information available so far, is that the 49-year-old man died on August 30 at a private hospital and apart from Nipah infection, he was also suffering from liver cirrhosis, the complications of which led to his death.
Meanwhile, the Kozhikode district collector announced that 43 wards across seven panchayats have been declared as containment zones with entry and exit to these neighbourhoods strictly restricted.
The panchayats that have been affected are Ayanchery, Maruthonkara, Thiruvalloor, Kuttiady, Kayakkodi, Vilyappalli and Kavilumpara.
Shops selling medicines and food along with essentials are only allowed to function in these areas until further orders.
Banks, schools and anganwadis have also been asked to close.
