- By Abhirupa Kundu
- Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:50 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Nipah Virus Infection: Two "unnatural deaths" in Kerala's Kozhikode led the state's health department to sound a health alert in the city after it was suspected that the duo was infected with the deadly Nipah Virus (NiV). Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday said that one of the relatives of the deceased is currently admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the private hospital where the two were being treated. A high-level meeting chaired by the health minister will be held on Tuesday to discuss the disease.
The body of the two deceased has been kept in the mortuary and will be cremated once the results are obtained, George said, adding that the Health Department has sent samples to the National Institute of Virology. The first death had taken place on August 30, while the most recent one on Monday.
The health minister as a precautionary measure has already directed the Kozhikode Medical College to make arrangements for an isolation facility.
What Is Nipah Virus Infection?
-Named after a Malaysian village, Sungai Nipah, it is zoonotic disease transmitted via animals to humans.
-It can be also transmitted through contaminated food, direct contact with the affected or from fruit bats.
-Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, trouble breathing and nausea.
-According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the virus is fatal both in humans as well as animals and can cause severe disease in animals such as pigs.
- The Nipah Virus infection is associated with encephalitis, which causes swelling of the brain with annual outbreaks usually in parts of Asia, primarily Bangladesh and India, the Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC).
A Look At the Previous Cases Of Nipah Outbreak
-The first ever outbreak in south India was reported in 2018 from the districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram. The first outbreak of the disease in Kozikode's Changaroth near Perambra in May 2018 claimed at least 17 lives.
-The second instance was reported in 2019 in Kerala's Ernakulam, affecting only one person in that year.
-The disease was reported again in September 2021, during which a 12-year-old boy from Chathamangalam in Kozhikode died. The outbreak then was just confined to one case.
-The earlier Nipah outbreaks were reported from West Bengal in 2001 and 2007, WHO reported. "A total of 23 cases were identified, including the index case with 18 laboratory-confirmed cases. The outbreak was managed by the state government and central government agencies and has been acknowledged as a success story," the organisation observed.