Karnataka CM to review Nipah virus impact on state today, says ‘necessary actions’ to follow

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that he would receive a detailed report on the behaviour of the Nipah virus and its outbreak in Kerala, later in the evening. The report is also expected to contain the impact on Karnataka and following its review, the CM said that “necessary actions” would be taken regarding the virus in his state.

“Regarding Nipah virus, I have given directions to the Health Secretary and experts. I will get a report on its behaviour in Kerala and its impact on us by this evening, following which necessary action will be taken,” news agency ANI quoted Bommai as saying earlier in the day.

The report is expected by Thursday evening following which, the CM said that measures would be taken in Karnataka on the possible impact of the virus on the state, following an outbreak in Kerala.

Earlier on Wednesday, Bommai had instructed the state health officials, especially in districts located along the Kerala border, to strengthen their measures against the Nipah virus after the infection was reported in neighbouring Kerala on Sunday last week. He also asked for more awareness to be spread among the public and create a surveillance system for identifying clusters of encephalitis disease to detect Nipah outbreaks at the earliest. The CM was on a trip to Delhi on September 7 and 8 to meet with some Union ministers to discuss issues concerning the state.

Already, Karnataka has put up several measures to bolster their surveillance on Kerala border and people travelling between the states. Bommai had asked his health officials to check for symptoms such as fever, altered mental status, severe weakness, headache, respiratory distress, cough, vomiting, muscle pain, convulsions and diarrhoea among passengers arriving at Karnataka from Kerala. Already, vigilance at the border between the two states was bolstered, particularly on the Karnataka side, owing to the high number of daily Covid-19 infections in Kerala. Passengers are expected to possess a negative RT-PCR certificate and vaccination certificates before entering the state.

The district administration in Dakshina Kannada, one of the districts in Karnataka bordering Kerala, has advised its people to avoid travelling to Kerala in the wake of the Nipah outbreak and also the high Covid-19 caseload there. It asked the people to consider their travel to Kerala only in emergency cases and avoid it until the end of October this year.

Meanwhile, Kerala health minister Veena George said that 61 people in her state had tested negative for the Nipah virus after being in close contact with the 12-year-old boy who lost his life to the disease on September 5. While 64 people are under observation in the Kozhikode Medical College for the disease, several other people were also being tested, she added.