Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that two deaths have been reported in Kerala’s Kozhikode due to Nipah virus. The Kerala health department sounded a health alert in the district after two people who died due to “unnatural” deaths. According to state health minister Veena George, the relatives of one of the deceased are also admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), reported news agency PTI.
The two deceased were admitted at a private hospital in the Kozhikode district, said reports.
He said a central team of experts has been sent to Kerala to take stock of the situation and assist the state government in the management of the Nipah virus infection. Two “unnatural deaths” following fever were reported from Kozhikode on Monday. Relatives of one of the deceased are also admitted to the ICU, the Kerala health department said in a statement issued last night.
Following the deaths, the health department sounded an alert in the district. It has been confirmed that the two deaths reported from Kozhikode were caused by Nipah virus, Mandaviya told reporters. A central team of experts has been sent to the state to take stock of the situation. It will also help the state government in the management of the infection, he said.
Kerala Government on Nipah virus
In a Facebook post, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his government is viewing the two deaths seriously. He, however, said there is no need to worry as most of those who were in close contact with the deceased are under treatment. Kerala Health Minister Veena George chaired a high-level meeting to evaluate the situation in Kozhikode.
She said the entire health machinery in the district is on alert. Kozhikode had also reported deaths due to Nipah virus in 2018 and 2021. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals. It can also be transmitted through contaminated food or from one person to another.
It causes a range of illnesses, from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis, among infected people