KOZHIKODE: State govt on Saturday confirmed Nipah virus infection in a 14-year-old boy hailing from Pandikkad in Malappuram.
The parents or relatives of the boy didn’t have any symptoms as on Saturday evening. The area within the 3km radius of the epicentre of the infection has been declared as containment zone.
As many as 60 contacts of the infected child have been categorized as high-risk while a total of 214 persons have been kept under observation.Restrictions have been imposed in Pandikkad and Anakkayam panchayats while the patient was rushed to Kozhikode medical college hospital.
The Nipah protocol was implemented on Saturday morning itself and health minister Veena George said that the state was well prepared to face the deadly disease.
“NIV Pune has confirmed that the 14-year-old boy, who was undergoing treatment with Nipah symptoms in Malappuram, was positive for Nipah. It needs to be ensured that samples of all high-risk contacts are tested and all contacts are identified,” George said.
This is the fifth recorded Nipah detection in the state so far. Nipah outbreak was first reported in Kerala in Kozhikode in 2018. It was reported next in Ernakulam in 2019 and again in Kozhikode in 2021 and 2023. In 2018, 19 people died in the outbreak and in 2021 a 13-year-old child died.
George said that caution should be maintained in the district and hospital visits should be avoided unless it is essential. Masks should be worn by everyone while going out in public. Hospitals should follow infection control protocol, she said. She said that contact tracing was important, and efforts were on to collect maximum data.
As many as 25 committees have been urgently formed in the district for Nipah control as per the SOP. Monoclonal antibodies required for treatment have been sent from the Pune Virology Lab and will arrive on Sunday morning. A team of experts from Pune virology institute would soon arrive at Malappuram for collecting samples from animals.
Instructions have been given to KMSCL to procure other medicines, masks, PPE kits, and testing kits.
Thirty isolation rooms have been set up at Manjeri Medical College Hospital along with a six-bed ICU. All those who had come into contact with the patient are under observation. Monitoring measures will be intensified and restrictions will be imposed within 3km radius of the epicentre of the outbreak. While there is no need to panic, maintaining vigil is necessary, the minister said.
The boy who developed fever on July 10 sought treatment at a private clinic on July 12. A consultation was taken at a private hospital in Pandikkad on July 13 as well. Although he was admitted to the same private hospital on July 15, he was later transferred to a private hospital in Perinthalmanna and subsequently to a private hospital in Kozhikode. The infection was confirmed from a sample collected there.
The health department has opened a control cell in Malappuram. The control cell, operating 24 hours, is located at the Malappuram PWD Rest House. The control room number is 0483-2732010. The health minister is camping in the district to assess the situation.
