Man in Malappuram district died due to Nipah virus, says Kerala Health Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: A 24 year old man who died at Malappuram district in Kerala a couple of days back was infected with Nipah infection.

The victim hailing from Thiruvali near Wandoor in Malappuram was a student in Bengaluru and came to Kerala a couple of weeks back. He suffered from fever and took treatment at four different hospitals. He died last Monday.

Health Minister Veena George said that the test conducted at National Institute of Virology in Pune confirmed it was Nipah infection. As many as 151 people so far are found to be in the primary contact list of the deceased.

Five of them had mild symptoms and hence their samples were also being tested for Nipah infection. She said that all those in the contact list would be kept under surveillance. The health department aims at detecting any infection at the early stage itself so that it could be cured.

The Thiruvali panchayat authorities have asked all people to wear masks and those with any symptoms to report to health authorities. A door to door screening will be held in the coming days.

Nipah infection is being reported occasionally in Kerala. In July a 14 year old boy hailing from Malappuram died due to Nipah infection. As many as 20 have been killed in a Nipah breakout in Kozhikode in 2018. In 2019 one person was infected. But he recovered. In 2021 one Nipah death was reported. In 2023 two of the six infected died.

Health authorities claim that the high alertness of the state health system is helping in diagnosing the infection.

Nipah virus is a highly pathogenic Paramyxovirus It is one of the ten priority pathogens identified by the World Health Organisation.

Health department sources said that the deceased youth had come down from Bengaluru on August 23. He got a fever on September 4. The source of infection is yet to be traced.