Six New Samples Test Negative For Nipah Virus In Kerala As Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Sound Caution

Six people who were under observation in Kerala for suspected Nipah infection do not have the virus, the government has confirmed. Kerala Health Minister KK Shylaja said that the samples of the six patients tested at the National Virology Institute, Pune, have tested negative for Nipah. They were admitted at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kochi with suspected symptoms of the deadly outbreak.?

BCCL

The minister also confirmed that the condition of the 23-year-old who was earlier tested positive for Nipah is improving.?

This comes even as the authorities are making attempts to identify and screen everyone whom the 23-year-old came into contact with after he was infected. This includes the doctors and nurses who treated him in the hospital and his family members, though no one has so far shown any signs of infection.

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Meanwhile, two neighboring states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have stepped up vigil in the wake of the Nipah outbreak in Kerala. The two states see a large number of inter-state travellers from Kerala.?

the Health Department in Karnataka issued a circular asking administration in Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts to immediately convene inter-departmental coordination committee meetings to asses the preparedness in the state.

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In Tamil Nadu too, as part of the precautionary measures, people travelling from Kerala to Tamil Nadu are being stopped and screened at check posts at the border.

This is the second straight year Nipah has been reported from Kerala. Last year the outbreak had killed 17 people. Timely detection of the rare virus and a war-footing level action by the health department in Kerala ensured that the infection for which there is no treatment did not go into epidemic levels.