Kerala: 12-year-old boy dies of Nipah virus in Kozhikode

The samples had been sent to the lab of the National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha.

A 12-year-old boy died on Sunday morning from Nipah virus infection after undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode district of Kerala.

An association of Pteropus medius bats led to the Nipah virus disease outbreak in Kerala in 2018.(Satish Bate/HT Photo)

A high-level meeting of the health department was reportedly held late on Saturday night over the case of the virus that had an outbreak in 2018 and claimed a number of deaths in the southern state. Another meeting will be held in a while in Kozhikode.

The samples had been sent to the lab of the National Institute of Virology in Pune and they have confirmed presence of the virus. The boy died on 5am on Sunday.

Health minister Veena George has left for Kozhikode on Sunday morning to take stock of the situation.

The victim's relatives and all those who treated him have been put under quarantine. Strict vigil has been imposed in Kozhikode. The Union health ministry is also rushing a team to Kozhikode.

Already reeling under an unrelenting spread of the coronavirus outbreak, report of the Nipah virus death has only added to the state's worries. 

The first Nipah virus disease outbreak in south India was reported in the Kozhikode district on May 19, 2018. The state had witnessed 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases till June 1, 2018.