Health worker tests Nipah positive in Kerala, confirmed cases tally at 5
A 24-year-old health worker in Kerala has tested positive for the Nipah virus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to five.
KOCHI: A 24-year-old health worker tested positive for the Nipah virus in Kozhikode on Wednesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases of the infection to five, Kerala health minister Veena George said.
Also Read: Nipah: Preparing facilities, identifying high-risk contacts, says Kerala health min
Kerala reported two deaths due to the brain-damaging virus on Tuesday, prompting the Centre to rush a team of experts to the state as local authorities set up isolation wards and formed contact lists of the patients to curb the spread of the infection.
The health worker employed at a private hospital in Kozhikode is suspected to have come in contact with one of the two men who died due to the virus. The 24-year-old has been confirmed with Nipah virus infection after his samples turned positive.
The state health department has strengthened its measures to control the outbreak by declaring containment zones across several panchayats, identifying 706 people in the contact list and publishing route maps of the two men who have died so far.
Read here: Nipah virus in Kerala is Bangladesh variant, less infectious, high mortality rate
“The route maps that we have published so far include all the places and the kind of people the two victims came in contact with in the days before their death,” George said. “This will help us in adding more people to the contacts list based on the risk category.”
In Kozhikode district, restrictions have been clamped on festivals and other public programmes, collector A Geetha said, adding that people have been advised to avoid attending festivals in large groups.
The health minister also said that the strain of the Nipah virus detected in Kerala this time is Bangladesh strain which has a high mortality rate of 80-90%. As opposed to the Malaysian strain, which can spread only from animals to humans, the Bangladesh strain can be transmitted from humans to humans after being infected from natural carriers like fruit bats, she added.
“For the treatment of a nine-year-old who had tested positive for Nipah and is currently on ventilator, arrangements have been made to procure the monoclonal antibodies through ICMR,” George said. “The medicines will arrive soon by air.”
Also Read: 2 die as Nipah resurfaces in Kerala, Centre rushes team
Meanwhile, chief minister Pinrayi Vijayan convened a high-level meeting with six ministers and health officials late on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram to oversee and evaluate the Nipah containment measures.
At the meeting, it was decided to set up more isolation facilities at the panchayat level for those who lack such spaces at their homes as well as rooms in hospitals.
