Malappuram: In a major relief for Kerala amid the Nipah outbreak, test results of eight samples, from the contacts of the deceased 14-year-old boy who succumbed to the virus recently, have returned negative. The boy from Malappuram, who was undergoing treatment for Nipah infection at Kozhikode Medical College, died on July 21.
After attending the Nipah review meeting held at the Malappuram Collector's Conference Hall online, Health Minister Veena George George said till now 66 samples have tested negative for Nipah.
"However, two more people were admitted to hospitals and, At present a total of eight are currently under treatment in Manjeri and Kozhikode medical colleges. As of now, there are 472 people in the contact list out of which 220 are under the high-risk category," the minister said in a statement.
She said the health workers have completed house visits at Pandikkad and Anakkayam panchayats.
As part of fever surveys, health workers visited a total of 27,908 houses. The health department has provided mental health assistance to 227 people on Thursday.
The health department also asked those who were discharged from the hospital to undergo a 21-day isolation strictly. A Central team of health experts visited Malappuram on Wednesday to assess the situation.
Karnataka asks people to avoid trips to Malappuram
The Karnataka government on Thursday issued an advisory asking the people of the state to avoid travelling to Malappuram district. The Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare, however, said in a statement that as the case reported at Malappuram was one of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) (a Nipah symptom), and further high-risk contacts have been tested negative, the chance of human-to-human transmission seems very less and there is no need to panic at this moment. But as a precautionary step, one may avoid travel until it is very essential, to the affected areas of Kerala (Malappuram district), till the area is declared free of Nipah virus infection, the Commissionerate said. It said no cases of Nipah have been reported in Karnataka till date.
The state of Karnataka has been taking all necessary actions to curtail the cross-border transmission of the infection from Kerala since the outbreak was reported, it said. Fruit bats are the usual carriers of the virus, it said, and added that humans can become infected by accidentally consuming fruits bitten by bats or contaminated with its saliva.
(With PTI inputs)
