KOZHIKODE: One more person tested positive for Nipah in Kozhikode on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to six, four of them active. Two persons had died of the viral infection earlier.
Health Minister Veena George said samples of a 39-year-old man from Cheruvannur near Feroke tested positive on Friday, and he is currently under observation at a private hospital. Following this, the Cheruvannur area within the Kozhikode city corporation limits has been declared a containment zone.
Meanwhile, the number of persons on the contact list increased to 1,080, with the addition of 130 more people on Friday. As many as 29 persons in the contact list are from outside Kozhikode district — 22 from Malappuram, three from Kannur and one each from Wayanad and Thrissur districts.
It has been learnt that the newly infected person availed treatment at the private hospital that was visited by the patient who first contracted the infection and died on August 30. “August 29 will be considered as the peak day of spread as all the confirmed cases till date got infected from the index person who was at the Iqraa hospital, Malaparamba, on the day,” said District Medical Officer K K Rajaram.
Veena said all the 30 samples collected on Thursday tested negative. It includes the health staff at Iqraa Hospital and other high-risk contacts. The health department has asked all those who visited Iqraa Hospital on August 29th and 30th the early morning to report to the Nipah control room. Meanwhile, the samples of Maruthonkara native, who died on August 30, tested positive for Nipah on Friday.
‘Condition of those under treatment satisfactory’
This has been considered as the index case of the virus infection in the district. The health minister said with the setting up of the NIV mobile testing facility at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, the samples need not be sent to Pune for testing. She said the health condition of those undergoing treatment is satisfactory. Efforts are being made to trace contacts of deceased persons and the active cases, she said.
Veena said those included in the high-risk list will be subjected to Nipah tests even if they have no symptoms. As part of finding the source of the Nipah virus, a central team conducted an inspection in Kuttiadi on Friday. The group visited the house of a resident of Kallad in Maruthonkara panchayat, who died of Nipah infection on August 30. The team visited his house and its surroundings, and also the fields near the house where the infected person is assumed to have gone.
A four-member member bat survey team led by Dr Balasubramaniam also reached Kuttiadi on Friday. The team members include Hanul Thukral, M Santhosh Kumar and Gajendrasingh. After inspecting the deceased person’s house and surroundings, the team also checked the fruit trees in the nearby areas.
Meanwhile, Works Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, Forest Minister A K Saseendran and Ports Minister Ahmed Devarkovil attended a review meeting, along with the health minister.
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