MALAPPURAM: The 24-year-old Nipah victim from Thiruvali panchayat may have been infected by consuming fruits from his residential premises, said Health Minister Veena George on Thursday.
“The victim had eaten fruits from his house premises, where the presence of fruit bats has been identified. However, to confirm the source, genomic sequencing needs to be conducted by collecting samples from the fruit bats in the area. If the samples from the bats and the victim match, we can confirm the source. A bat surveillance team from the National Institute of Virology will collect bat samples soon,” Veena George said.
Meanwhile, one person tested negative for Nipah on Thursday, bringing the total number of negative cases to 37. On the same day, two more individuals were added to the contact list, both categorised as high-risk.
A total of 177 people are on the victim’s primary contact list, and 90 are on the secondary contact list. Of those, 81 are healthcare workers, and 134 of the primary contacts fall under the high-risk category.
Two individuals with symptoms were admitted to Manjeri Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday. With this, six people are currently undergoing treatment at Manjeri Medical College, and 21 people at Perinthalmanna MES Medical College Hospital, all showing symptoms of Nipah.
“Samples from everyone on the contact list will be collected and tested to ensure they are not infected, with symptomatic individuals prioritised for testing. Preventive medication is being administered to those in the high-risk category,” the minister said.
Mental health support is being provided to those on the contact list through the Nipah control cell in Malappuram.
On Thursday, mental health assistance was extended to 265 people through the control centre.
As part of preventive efforts, the field survey across Mampad, Thiruvali, and Wandoor panchayats has been completed. So far, 7,953 households have been surveyed, and a total of 175 fever cases have been reported during the survey.