23-year-old student tests positive for Nipah: Kerala Govt
Another person has been shifted to isolation ward, as four others are under observation
New Delhi: A 23-year-old student admitted in a private hospital in Kerala’s Ernakulam has been tested positive for the deadly Nipah virus, confirmed Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja. The Kerala government has asked people not to panic.
This comes almost after a year after an outbreak of Nipah had led to 17 deaths in the state of Kerala.
The National Institute of Virology in Pune, which tested the man’s blood samples, confirmed the presence of the virus in the engineering student.
Another man was shifted to an isolation ward of a private hospital in Ernakulam, Kerala as four others were kept under observation. Two nurses, who treated the first victim, have developed high fever and are also among the 86 people under observation so far. The condition of the affected people is stated to be stable.
The health minister said everything is under control as the state government reiterated that there was no need for any panic. The state’s health secretary Rajan Gobragade said the origin of the virus has not yet been detected yet.
The outbreak in May last year had claimed 17 lives, including that of a nurse Lini Puthussery, who was part of a team treating one of the patients. The outbreak was localised in two districts and contained within two weeks.
Also Read: Bombay High Court Rejects Challenge To IPC Section 376-E
Ms Kalinga