Centre issues Nipah advisory to Kerala, wants Kannur, Wayanad, Malappuram put on alert

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 6

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A day after a central team reviewed the epicentre of Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala’s Kozhikode, the health ministry in a letter to the Kerala government asked for Kannur, Malappuram, and Wayanad to be put on alert for the disease outbreak.

“Both hospital-based and community surveillance needs to be strengthened. Awareness must be spread for early detection of acute encephalitis syndrome and respiratory distress and risks communicated to people. Active search for cases needs to be undertaken in the containment area – the three km radius around the house of the 12-year-old boy who died of Nipah yesterday,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to Kerala government.

The health secretary said the advisory is being given based on the guidance of the National Centre for Disease Control experts who have met the forest and health ministers of Kerala.

Nipah spreads from bat saliva. NCDC has collected Rambutan fruit samples from the Kozhikode epicentre to detect any links with bat infection.

The Centre also asked Kerala to identify primary and secondary contacts of case zero (12-year-old boy)  and prepare a line listing of high and low-risk contacts.

“All high-risk contacts should be moved to quarantine,” Bhushan said.