Kozhikode: A West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak has been reported from Kozhikode, already battered by a Nipah virus sweep which claimed 17 lives.

Deputy district medical officer (dy DMO) Asha Devi chaired a meeting of the Rapid Response Team to decide on the action to be taken.

A suspected WNV case was reported from the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here. The first set of samples from a 24-year-old woman turned positive, after tests from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. However, the disease would be confirmed after a second round of lab tests, MCH sources said. (The initial tests turning positive need not conclusively indicate the presence of the virus).

“The first lab results from NIV arrived on July 31. It is spread through mosquitoes. Mosquitoes get this virus from migratory birds. Though it is being reported for the first time from Kozhikode, cases were reported from Alappuzha in 2011. It was again reported from the same district in 2013 and 2017. States like Maharashtra, Goa and Assam had earlier reported West Nile fever. Not all kinds of West Nile fever are dangerous and it is not done routinely," said Thomas Bina, head, community medicine, MCH.

“In 80 per cent of cases, the virus presence would be very mild and normal symptoms are fever, headache, and rashes on the body. In the 20 per cent, the virus affects brain and the situation turns critical. There is specific treatment as such, except support care. Steps should be taken for vector control," she said adding that there had been cases which turned negative in the second round of tests.