Kerala confirms Nipah in 14-yr-old boy from Malappuram

Malappuram/Kerala: The suspected Nipah case from Kerala has turned out positive, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday. The confirmed Nipah infection was detected on a 14-year-old boy from Malappuram district, PTI reported.

George, who met the media here, said the Pune NIV (National Institute of Virology) had confirmed the infection in the boy, who is currently under treatment at a private hospital.

"He will be shifted to the government medical college at Kozhikode. The contact tracing has begun. High-risk contacts have already been isolated, and their samples have been sent for testing," George told the media.

The child is under treatment and is on a ventilator, George added.

The minister said the epicentre was Pandikkad and that precautionary measures had already been initiated.

She asked the people in the locality of the epicentre and the nearby hospitals to wear masks in public spaces and avoid visiting patients in hospitals.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George informed that 214 people in the contact list are under observation. Out of this 60 people are in high risk category. A sample of all those in the high-risk category will be tested. The boy has been transferred from a private hospital in Kozhikode to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. The minister also informed that the director of the health department has been instructed to take measures regarding the declaration of health emergency in Anakkayam and Pandikkad gram panchayats in the context of the disease outbreak.

The state government announced recently that a special action calendar was being prepared to prevent a Nipah outbreak, which has haunted the state on four occasions in the past.

Nipah outbreaks have been reported in Kozhikode district in 2018, 2021, and 2023 and in Ernakulam district in 2019, and the presence of Nipah virus antibodies had been detected in bats in Kozhikode, Wayanad, Idukki, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts