‘No fresh positive cases of Nipah, results of 51 samples awaited’

Kozhikode (Kerala): In a relief for the Kerala government, no fresh positive cases of Nipah virus were reported on Saturday in the state even as five more persons, who came into contact with those infected, showing some symptoms of the disease were admitted in isolation at the medical hospital here.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George, at a press briefing in the evening, said that in a relief for the state, no fresh positive cases were reported during the day.

However, results of 51 samples sent for testing were awaited, she said.

The minister also said five more persons, who had come into contact with the infected persons, were admitted in the hospital, after showing symptoms of Nipah infection.

“Their samples have also been sent for testing,” she said. At present, six cases of Nipah infection have been confirmed in the state. Of the six, two persons have died bringing the number of active cases to 4.

The minister said the number of people who were suspected of coming into contact with those infected has risen to 1,192, with 97 persons being traced today. Additionally, house surveillance was carried out in 22,208 homes in the containment zones till date, she said.

George also said that all the cases so far have emanated from the first person infected — the index case — who died on August 30.

“So, as of now, there is no secondary wave. That is welcome news,” she said at the press briefing which was also attended by State Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas.

Earlier in the day, George said that with the identification of the patient zero or index case of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the state government has begun looking for the source and place from where he got infected by seeking details of his mobile tower locations. She said that while the state government was trying to determine where and how the man got infected, the central team was collecting bat samples to ascertain the viral load.

She also claimed that the state’s efforts to combat the virus outbreak were appreciated by the central team.

Everyone, including a nine-year-old boy on a ventilator, who is under treatment for the virus or is in isolation is stable, she had said.

The minister had also said that all those infected are part of the first wave of the infection which has manifested in two clusters — one being the two family members of the man who was the index case and the second being the persons who came into contact

with him at the hospital he went for treatment.