Nipah virus: Centre rushes team to Kerala after 12-year-old boy dies

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The Centre has rushed a team to Kerala after a 12-year-old boy died due to Nipah virus infection in the state's Kozhikode district. The Central Government has rushed a team of the National Centre for Disease Control to the state, which will be reaching on Sunday. The team will provide technical support to the state.

Pune National Institute of Virology confirmed the presence of Nipah virus in the boy's samples.

Giving details of the case, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said, "Unfortunately, the boy passed away at 5 in the morning. The condition of the child was critical on Saturday night. We formed various teams and have started the tracing. Steps have been taken to isolate those who were the primary contacts of the boy".

"Three samples-- plasma, CSF and serum-- were found infected. He was admitted to the hospital with a heavy fever four days ago. But on Saturday, his condition became worse. We had sent his samples for testing the day before yesterday," she added.

George said none of the close contacts of the boy are showing any symptoms as of now and that the health department has already traced out the contacts of the child.

Some immediate public health measures have been advised by the Centre which include active case search in the family, families, village and areas with similar topography especially in Malappuram.

The measures also include active contact tracing for any contacts in the past 12 days, strict quarantine of the contacts and isolation of any suspects and collection and transportation of samples for lab testing, the ministry said.

The first Nipah virus disease outbreak in South India was reported from Kozhikode district of Kerala on May 19, 2018. There have been 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases as of June 1, 2018.

Nipal virus is spread by saliva of the fruit bats. In 2018 also, there was a Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala. In 2018 also, there was a Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

(With inputs from PTI)