Humans may get a fatal fever that swells the brain from nipah, and there is neither a vaccination nor a treatment for it.
Kerala state’s health minister said on Sunday that the state’s authorities are implementing preventative measures after the death of a 14-year-old boy from the Nipah virus and the designation of 60 others as being at high risk.
A Reuters research from last year revealed that parts of Kerala are among the most vulnerable places in the world to viral epidemics. Fruit bats and animals like pigs are the source of nipah, which may inflict a fatal fever that swells the brain in humans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated nipah as a priority infection due to its propensity to start an epidemic. There is no cure for infection and no vaccination to prevent it.
Speaking to local TV reporters in Malayalam, state health minister Veena George said, “The infected boy died on Sunday after a cardiac arrest.”
She had earlier announced in a statement on Saturday that the government has ordered the formation of 25 committees to identify and isolate those impacted by Nipah as part of its control measures.
A school-age child has been diagnosed with a positive case of Nipah, according to Dr. Anoop Kumar, director of critical care medicine at Aster MIMS Hospital in Calicut. Those who have come into touch with him are under observation.
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He said, “At this point, there is a minimum chance of a Nipah virus outbreak,” and added that the issue will be watched over over the course of the next seven to ten days.
The boy’s main contact list included 214 individuals, according to the statement. It said that 60 of them are considered high-risk, and isolation units have been established at medical facilities to care for the patients.
Following the confirmation of a Nipah virus case in Malappuram, a town around 220 miles from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, family members of the afflicted patient were detained at a nearby hospital for surveillance, according to local media sources. We urged those who could be at danger to stay at home and avoid contact.
To stop the virus from spreading, the state administration said it is attempting to track down any afflicted individuals. Since its debut in Kerala in 2018, nipah has been connected to several fatalities in the region.
There have been outbreaks of the virus in Bangladesh, India, and Singapore since it was initially discovered in Malaysia 25 years ago.
