The young man admitted with possible Nipah symptoms had travelled from Idukki to Thrissur with 22 others. Government is tracing those he had been in close touch with to observe them.

The Health Minister of Kerala, KK Shailaja told the media on June 4 that the government has put into place all protocol measures as a 23-year-old man admitted to a private hospital in Ernakulam was suspected to have contracted the Nipah virus. Though the National Institute of Virology in Alleppey had said that the man could have contracted the Nipah virus, the government was waiting for a confirmation from NIV in Pune.

The minister also said that since the young man had travelled from his college in Idukki to a company in Thrissur with a group of 22 students, the government was tracing those people he had been in close touch with to observe them. “We have started contact tracing already,” she said.

Contract tracing is one of the interventions that have been used to effectively control Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks in Africa, according to the WHO.

“A young man was admitted to a private hospital in Kochi. The government had intervened and sent the sample to NIV in Alleppey and NIV in Pune. NIV Alleppey said that this was suspected to be Nipah, but we cannot be fully sure. We are awaiting results from Pune too,” she said.

She has asked people who are showing any signs of having contracted the Nipah virus to get themselves admitted in a hospital. Six students who travelled with the young man have been identified in Thrissur and they are under observation.

“We have informed the Chief Minister of the development and are following his instructions. I am travelling to Ernakulam today with Dr RL Saritha,” the Health Minister said. Dr RL Saritha, the Director of Health Services, was part of the team that combated Nipah virus in May 2018.

“People need not be scared. This young man has had a fever for more than 10 days and no other serious cases have come to our notice, including that of encephalitis. We can hope that he does not have Nipah, but we need to suspect it,” she added.

The Health Minister also said that all cases of encephalitis or inflammation of the brain should not be suspected as Nipah immediately. “We have had cases of encephalitis but they were not because of Nipah virus. So we should not report all these cases in the media and create panic,” she said.

The minister also said that the government was taking all measures possible and had learnt lessons from the last outbreak. She also said that last time, the ‘ribavirin’ medicine was used. “We have stock (of the medicine) and NIV Pune has said that they will send more stock if Nipah is confirmed,” KK Shailaja said.

The virus first broke out in Kerala in May 2018 and claimed the lives of 17 people. It started with three people of the same family from Perambra in Kozhikode exhibiting similar symptoms. Among those who passed away included 31-year-old nurse Lini Puthussery, who contracted the virus after treating patient zero Mohammad Sadiq in Perambra. With a 95% death rate, Nipah is one of the deadliest viruses to have spread in Kerala in recent memory. Following the outbreak, the first ever virology institute in the state was opened in Thonnakkal, Thiruvananthapuram.

This story was originally published on The News Minute and is reprinted here with permission. It can be viewed on https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-govt-starts-contact-tracing-those-who-were-touch-suspected-nipah-patient-102901