Amid COVID, Nipah returns in Kerala, 12-year-old succumbs

A high alert has been sounded in two neighboring districts of Kannur and Malappuram.

NewsBharati    06-Sep-2021
Total Views |
Thiruvananthapuram, September 06: Amid the time when Kerala is already battling with the COVID outbreak, a 12-year-old boy succumbed to Nipah in the northern Kozhikode district.
 
According to the State Health Ministry, the boy was hospitalized on September 1 with fever, myocarditis, and encephalitis. He breathed his last on Sunday at a private hospital in the city around 5 am.
 
 
Kerala _1  H x
 
At least 18 close contacts, mainly relatives and health workers, of the boy and 150 secondary contacts have been identified and quarantined. Two health workers later showed symptoms of Nipah.
 
After the first death, a high alert has been sounded in two neighboring districts of Kannur and Malappuram. The team from the National Centre for Disease Control, which is camping in the city, visited the deceased boy’s house in Chathamangalam on Sunday. The state animal husbandry department has also started examining domestic animals and pets in the area. The area within a 3km radius of the deceased’s house has been sealed. 
Moreover, the health department is also planning to start a mobile application to monitor the Nipah situation.
 
State health minister Veena George said, that the coming week is crucial for the state and expressed confidence that the latest outbreak will be localized and contained like that of 2018.
 
 
 
“We have traced all contacts of the boy and quarantined. The next week is crucial for us. We have to keep utmost vigil,” said the minister, adding the health department will also look at some of the earlier deaths if they had similar symptoms.
 
“Different teams are working to find out the source of infection. If needed, more experts will be deployed. Since the whole state is following strict physical distancing and masking, chances of high transmission are low. But we can’t lower our guard,” she said.
 
This is not the first time that the virus has hunted the Pinarayi Vijayan-led State, but Nipah also had earlier hit Kerala in 2018. During which, the virus claimed 17 lives in the state. A total of 23 cases were identified that time out of which 18 cases were confirmed by the lab testing.
 
What is Nipah?
 
Mainly a zoonotic disease, people get infected through birds and animals and fruit bats are the main carrier. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nipah virus disease is caused by fruits bats and it can be transmitted from animals to humans through body fluid and in the same way among humans. It is potentially fatal to humans as well as animals.
 
 
Symptoms of Nipah virus disease:-
 
It is known to cause fever, muscular pain, headache, fever, dizziness, and nausea along with respiratory illness. Some are also likely to show symptoms of epilepsy. Once infection aggravates patient may fall unconscious and may develop brains fever, which can lead to death.
.