KOZHIKODE: The administrative response to the Nipah crisis in Kozhikode has shifted to top gear with a ministerial review meeting and an assessment by a specialist team from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The mobilisation comes at a time when the region is experiencing a mix of clinical relief and escalating political turbulence.
Health Minister K Muraleedharan has confirmed that three close relatives of the active Nipah patient have tested negative at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.
Despite this positive development, epidemiological tracking continues at full throttle. Health officials added 13 new individuals to the contact list and moved four more into institutional isolation for rigorous observation. The total contact list has now expanded to exactly 100 people, which includes four individuals in the very high-risk category, 14 as high-risk, and 82 under low-risk.
Meanwhile, health surveillance teams successfully completed a comprehensive house-to-house health survey across all 320 residential properties within division 5 of the Ramanattukara municipality to check for potential transmission links.
To reinforce containment operations, Revenue Minister A P Anil Kumar, who currently holds organisational charge of the district, chaired a high-level strategy session in the district collector’s chamber.
Alongside district collector M S Madhavikutty and senior medical officers, Minister Anil Kumar scrutinised the local field response and directed strict adherence to successful protocols from prior outbreaks.
During the session, the minister held direct consultations with the visiting expert team from the ICMR, which had just concluded an on-site evaluation of clinical protocols at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital where the 43-year-old active Nipah patient remains in critical condition on ventilator support. A specialised medical board is scheduled to evaluate the patient’s vitals after a 48-hour window to determine the administration of a second dosage of the therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody.
Health Minister K Muraleedharan announced that he will arrive in Kozhikode on Sunday morning to attend an emergency high-level review meeting at the district collectorate.