Suspected Nipah virus case in Kerala's Kozhikode, 13-year-old boy hospitalised

The health department is yet to confirm the outbreak officially. Sources said the announcement can be expected on Sunday, after getting confirmation from the union ministry of health.

The natural hosts of the Nipah virus are fruit bats. (File Photo | TP Sooraj, EPS)

KOZHIKODE: A 13-year-old boy undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode is suspected to have been infected by the Nipah virus.

The patient is from Chooloor, near Chathamangalam, said sources. The boy was admitted to the hospital with high fever a few days ago and preliminary tests are learnt to have hinted at the possibility of Nipah.

READ HERE: Nipah virus Explainer: All you need to know about the viral disease

The health department is yet to confirm the outbreak officially. Sources said the announcement can be expected on Sunday, after confirmation from the union ministry of health.

Seventeen people had lost their lives following a Nipah outbreak in May, 2018.

Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonotic disease (one which spreads from animals to humans) which spreads by the ingestion of human secretions/fluids. Fruit bats, a common species of the flying mammal abundantly found in India is the host animal for the disease-causing virus.

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