Mandaviya confirms Nipah virus deaths in Kerala; sends team to assess
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Sign reading "Nipah isolation ward, entry strictly prohibited" at a hospital where a ward is being prepared for suspected Nipah virus patients in Kozhikode district, Kerala | Photo Credit: Reuters
New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya confirmed that the two deaths that were reported from the Kozhikode district of Kerala were caused by the Nipah virus.
In order to assess the situation and help the State administration handle the Nipah virus outbreak, he claimed that a central team of experts had been dispatched to Kerala.
According to official sources, samples of four more people from Kerala have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune to test for the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government on Tuesday set up a control room in Kozhikode and advised people to use masks as a precautionary measure.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post that the government is viewing the two deaths seriously and the health department has issued an alert in Kozhikode.
With PTI inputs