CHENNAI: Special medical teams will go to the districts bordering Kerala to screen people entering Tamil Nadu from the neighbouring State.
So far there is no impact of Nipah virus in the State. Government has taken all precautionary measures, said Health minister C Vijaya Baskar.
He told reporters on Wednesday that isolation wards are also kept ready in all peripheral hospitals. The special teams will be under the Additional Director of Public Health.
“So far, there is no cluster of fever cases. We are monitoring cases in routine fever surveillance. Fever reports are being collected from 2,800 hospitals. We advise people to wash fruits thoroughly before eating as the virus spreads by eating fruits bitten by infected fruit bats.”
He said doubts on Nipah virus will be clarified on 24x7 health department helpline numbers: 104/ 24334811 / 24350496. “On Wednesday, we received 10 calls,” he said.
On the alleged shortage of blood in the blood bank of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here, the minister denied the allegation and said,” Usually, there will be a shortage in summer, but we have a lot of regular donors. So, we are managing with that. Also, the Rs 210 crore Metro Blood bank is getting ready. Once it is ready, the State can supply blood even to neighbouring countries”.