College student in Kochi suspected to have Nipah, Kerala govt takes precautions

Kochi: The Kerala government on Monday said a college student here is suspected to have been infected with the Nipah virus but a final confirmation is awaited from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

The Kerala Health Department has initiated precautionary measures to deal with the possible outbreak of Nipah virus. State Health Minister K K Shailaja said in Thiruvananthapuram that the 23-year-old college student, who has been admitted to a private hospital here, is suspected to have been infected with the Nipah virus but a final confirmation is awaited from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

She said isolation wards have been set up at the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital in Kochi. Although the state government is awaiting a report from the Pune Virology Institute to confirm if the student has contracted the Nipah virus, the Health department in the state has geared up to deal with a possible outbreak, officials said here.

A meeting of officials of the Health Department and Ernakulam district authorities held here reviewed the situation. It was chaired by Principal Secretary (Health), Rajan Khobragade. A team of medical experts, who have experience in dealing with the situation, have been rushed to Ernakulam from Kozhikode, officials said after the meeting. A senior district health official said "good news" is being received from doctors attending on the student at the hospital.He had taken food in the morning and is responding to medicines, the official said.

Ernakulam district Collector Mohammed Y Saffirulla said steps have been taken for capacity building at government and private hospitals to deal with the situation.

Surveillance teams have been constituted to follow the suspected cases of Nipah.

A facility to quarantine patients with suspected case of Nipah has been arranged at the Government Medical College, Kalamassery, he said.

A control room would be opened at the district headquarters apart from a media cell to provide information to the media, he added.

Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the Kerala government was taking precautionary actions and closely monitoring the situation after a suspected case of Nipah virus was reported in Kochi.

"The government is closely monitoring the current situation," Vijayan said in a Facebook post and urged everyone to follow the instructions of the Health department.

"No one needs to be afraid. Be alert. The Health department is all set to face any situation," he said.