The Kerala Health Department on Friday launched a warning against the Nipah virus, as two suspected cases of deadly zunotic disease were detected in two districts.
Health Minister Veena George said that there have been warnings in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Palakkad regarding cases reported from Palakkad and Malappuram districts.
“The virus was found in the tests conducted at the Government Medical College in Kozhikode. According to the protocol, samples were sent to NIV-pun for final confirmation. However, in these three districts in these three districts, 26 committees have been formed in these three districts and 26 committees have been started.”
Nipa virus in Kerala
A suspicious case was reported from Kozhikode Medical College, where an 18 -year -old woman from Mankada in Malappuram district died on 1 July after brain bleeding. Medical college doctors and other employees have treated the woman. The second case was reported in the Nattukal in Palakkad, where a 38 -year -old woman underwent treatment at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna in Palakkad. The source of infection is not known in both cases.
In May this year, a 42 -year -old woman was tested for Nipah in Malappuram district, a deadly zoonotic virus. The woman, who was admitted with encephaliti symptoms, was later cured of the disease.
There have been five nipples of Kerala since 2018. So far, only seven positive patients including women have survived in May. In 2018, one of 18 infected persons died in 17 and one in 2021. In 2023, two Nipa deaths were reported. Last year, Malappuram reported two deaths – one in July and the other in September – from 22 to 22 in Kerala.
Fruit bats are known as a deadly virus reservoir and all outbreaks in Kerala were reported during May to September, mainly the rainy season in the state. Viral fever and influenza are common during the rainy season, which makes Nipa’s early diagnosis difficult.
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A study on the outbreak of 2018 found that the index case was infected with bats, while the other were from the hospital. The virus reported in Kerala was related to a Bangladeshi stress, known for mortality – even up to 90 percent.
A region survey conducted by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) and the National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD) indicated fruit bats as a source of infection after Nipah’s death in July last year. The presence of antibodies of the virus was found in a bats of fruits collected from Pandikakad village, where July was a victim.
The minor boy consumed Hog Plum fruit from his neighborhood, where fruit bats were present.
The analysis of earlier events of infection showed that the stress of the virus found in affected individuals in Kerala was similar to the stress found in the body of the fruit bats.
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Even in the previous events of Nipa, the infection was reported from places where there was the presence of fruit bats. In 2018 and 2023, cases were reported in the eastern mountainous region of Kojikode.
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