Source of infection of Nipah patient in Kozhikode remains unclear

There seems to be a lack of clarity on the source and the route of transmission of the recent Nipah case in Kozhikode, even though the Health department has claimed to have contained the infection.

Fruit bats are considered to be the natural carriers of the Nipah virus. According to official sources in the Animal Husbandry department, samples of dead fruit bats, bird droppings, and body fluid samples of some domestic animals were collected from within a five-km radius of the residential premises of the infected person. They have, however, turned negative for the virus. The officials had also collected some samples from a godown in Malappuram district earlier used by the 43-year-old patient from Ramanattukara. No traces of the virus have been found in them as well. The samples were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the Health department is claiming that the situation has been brought under control. The officials point out that with all the close contacts of the infected person testing negative for the virus, it can be presumed that the infection has not spread in the community. However, the patient continues to be on ventilator support at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, since June 10. The number of people under observation came down to 93 on Tuesday (June 23). A release from the office of Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said that 11 people have been removed from the list as they did not exhibit any symptoms even after 21 days under observation.