KOZHIKODE: The State Health Department issued a high alert in Kozhikode district after two deaths were suspected to be caused by the deadly Nipah virus infection. The officials have declared the deaths to be unnatural. The two have been identified as people hailing from Ayanchery and Maruthonkara regions in the Kuttiyadi and Nadappuram constituencies respectively.
After the incident, the district administration announced a holiday in these regions on Tuesday. An alert has been issued to the public to stay cautious and calm and not get panicked with the situation. The deceased were undergoing treatment for fever at a private hospital in the district.
According to the officials from the health department one of the relatives of the deceased has been admitted to the hospital at the intensive care unit. Three persons from a family are in isolation at a private hospital in the city.
Blood samples from the deceased and from those admitted to the hospital have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the results are expected by Tuesday noon. Health Minister Veena George has convened a meeting in Kozhikode to assess the situation.
On 19 May 2018, a Nipah virus disease outbreak was reported from the Kozhikode district. This was the first NiV outbreak in South India. There have been 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases as of 1 June 2018. The two affected districts were Kozhikode and Mallapuram. A multi-disciplinary team led by the Indian Government’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the State government came together to stop the outbreak. The second case was reported in 2019 at Ernakulam and later Nipah was reported again in 2021 in Kozhikode when a 12-year-old died of encephalitis.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Nipah virus is zoonotic (it is transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.