Death of Malappuram girl confirmed as Nipah, Palakkad reports new case

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5 (PTI) The recent death of an 18-year-old girl in Kerala's Malappuram district was confirmed as Nipah infection, health department sources here said on Saturday.

The patient, hailing from Chettiyarangadi in Malappuram, had succumbed after receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode district.

Initial tests indicated Nipah and the infection was subsequently confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune after sample examination, the sources said.

A 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad district also tested positive for Nipah, prompting the authorities on Friday to issue a strong warning to the public and health workers to remain extremely vigilant.

In view of the Nipah case reported in the district, health authorities in Malappuram initiated surveillance in 20 wards in panchayats like Makkaraparamba, Kuruva, Kootilangadi, and Mankada, an official statement said here on Saturday.

The objective was to identify the source of the disease and strengthen household-based awareness, it said.

A total of 65 teams visited 1,655 houses and found no one with symptoms of Nipah during the survey, the statement added.

State Health Minister Veena George held a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to review the situation.

She informed that 425 people are on the Nipah contact list, with 228 in Malappuram, 110 in Palakkad, and 87 in Kozhikode.

Of them, five people are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and the test result of another person in the contact list turned negative for the infection, the minister's office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry is considering deploying the National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Kerala to assist the state government in implementing public health measures, following the detection of two Nipah virus cases, sources said in New Delhi.

The Central Surveillance Unit of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC, is in close contact with the state unit and is actively monitoring the situation.

The State Control Room has been activated for coordinating the various containment activities.

The public health response is guided by the Kerala State NiVD guidelines for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control.

"Although prima facie, the two cases are epidemiologically unlinked, the timelines of symptom onset and the possibility of a common social event connecting the two are being investigated," a source said. PTI LGK PLB ROH