Nipah virus: Kerala toll 11, panic subsides but govt taking no chances

KOZHIKODE: One more person succumbed to the Nipah virus on Thursday, taking the toll from the rare and deadly infection to 11, even as the administration stepped up efforts to neutralize every possible source of contagion, including the painstaking preparation of a comprehensive ‘line list’ of all persons who may have come into direct contact with confirmed Nipah patients.

Nipha Virus victim dead....

V Moosa, 60, who had earlier tested positive for the disease, died at a private hospital here on Thursday morning. Moosa's son Mohammed Salih and sister- in- law Mariyam had died last week and were the first confirmed cases of NiV infection in the state. The death of Moosa's another son Mohammed Sabith on May 5 is also assumed to be due to the Nipah virus though it has not been clinically confirmed.
Kozhikode student tests positive
Moosa had been on ventilator support for a week. He was buried in a 10 feet-deep pit at the graveyard near Kannamparambu mosque as per standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
One more person undergoing treatment in Kozhikode Medical College hospital tested positive for Nipah virus on Thursday. The 19-year-old student had visited the hospital when Nipah-infected patients were under treatment there. With this, the total number of confirmed Nipah cases reported from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts has touched 14, including 11 deaths.
In the northern districts, the authorities are taking no chances. Kerala State Public Service Commission (PSC) postponed the selection test for civil police officer/ woman police constable scheduled to be held on May 26 here, while Calicut university suspended classes at its Tenhipalam campus till May 31. The Kozhikode district collector issued orders to postpone all scheduled government programmes, meetings and inaugurations till May 31 to prevent assembling of persons in huge numbers in the district.
Anganawadis too have been directed not to operate till May 31 and tuition classes and training classes have been asked to suspend classes till then. Director of health services Dr R L Saritha said that a comprehensive line list is being prepared which will include all persons who have come into direct contact with the 14 confirmed Nipah cases.
In Kottayam district, the condition of two persons admitted to the medical college hospital there with suspected Nipah virus infection is improving, said Dr T K Jayakumar, hospital superintendent. The condition of the nurse from a private hospital in Kozhikode is also improving. She was admitted here on Wednesday with fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Meanwhile, despite reassurances from the government that the disease was ‘localised’ and under control, the tourism sector in the state is believed to have taken a hit, with cancelations being reported from several popular holiday destinations. Among the most affected was tour packages, mainly in the Kochi-Munnar-Thekkady-Kumarakom circuit.