On Wednesday, Kerala, India’s southern state, closed schools, workplaces, and public transit to stop the spread of the uncommon and severe brain-damaging Nipah virus, which has killed two people.
A state health official said more than 130 individuals have been tested for the virus, carried through direct contact with bats, pigs, or humans. An adult and a kid are still in the hospital.
“We are focusing on tracing contacts of infected persons early and isolating anyone with symptoms,” state Health Minister Veena George told reporters, examining the virus strain.
Public mobility has been limited in sections of the state to control the medical catastrophe.”
The state’s fourth virus outbreak since 2018 has killed two individuals since Aug. 30, prompting officials to create containment zones in at least seven villages in Kozhikode. Medical professionals were isolated following close interaction with the afflicted.
A government official said the first casualty was a minor landholder in Marutonkara. Both afflicted, the victim’s daughter and brother-in-law are in an isolation ward while relatives and neighbors are tested.
The second death followed hospital contact with the first victim. The physicians’ first inquiry showed, but the two were not connected, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The source said three government teams, including National Virology Institute scientists, will come Wednesday for additional testing. In 1999, Malaysian and Singaporean pig farmers and others in close contact with the animals contracted the Nipah virus.
Kerala’s initial Nipah epidemic killed 21 of 23 patients, while the 2019 and 2021 outbreaks killed two more.
A May Reuters research found portions of Kerala among the most at risk for bat virus outbreaks worldwide. Deforestation and urbanization have brought humans and animals together.
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