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68 under isolation for Nipah virus; all are stable: Kerala health minister
Kerala health minister Veena George said that of the total number of samples collected during the contact-tracing process of the Nipah virus victim in the state, 30 people have tested negative so far.
In the wake of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, as many as 68 people are currently under isolation at the Government Medical College in Kozhikode district, state health minister Veena George told news agency ANI on Wednesday. She added that all patients are in a stable condition.
She said that of the total number of samples collected during the contact tracing process of the Nipah virus victim in the state, 30 people have tested negative so far. George informed that she has been camping in Kozhikode for the past four days since the first case of the virus was reported in the district.
Notably, a 12-year-old boy was the first victim of the Nipah virus in Kerala, and on Sunday, the minor succumbed to the infection. George said that all three samples of the boy were found to have had traces of the virus by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
According to the latest ANI report, as many as 251 people were listed during contact-tracing, of which, 129 were health workers and 54 in the high-risk groups. Of the total contacts identified, 11 were found to be symptomatic and among the high-risk groups, 30 were health workers.
Also Read | What is Nipah virus? Know its symptoms, treatment and similarities with Covid-19
On Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported that eight samples taken from the boy’s close contacts, came out as negative from the NIV, Pune. “It is a great relief for us. Among the eight are the boy’s parents and medical officials. We will localise and contain the outbreak as we did in 2018,” the state health minister said.
A central team, which recently visited Kerala, conducted field investigations to provide measures to the state health department for combatting and containing the virus outbreak – that in 2018 had claimed 17 lives in Kozhikode district.
The Union health ministry has asked for districts such as Wayanad, Kannur and Malappuram to be put on high alert. Besides, a need for setting up 24x7 control rooms for daily reporting and information sharing has also been highlighted by the Centre.
