According to the office of the District Medical Officer, Kozhikode, 19 persons are under treatment for the infection and two of whom are in a critical condition. The death toll in the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala has touched 11 with the death of two more persons on Tuesday. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the virus in blood and fluid samples taken from all the victims. Eight of the dead are from Kozhikode district, including the first three victims from a single family, and three from Malappuram district. According to the office of the District Medical Officer, Kozhikode, 19 persons are under treatment for the infection and two of whom are in a critical condition. A team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) arrived in Kerala on Tuesday to assist the State Health Department. A National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) team has been camping in Kozhikode since Monday. Also Read All you need to know about Nipah virus All help from Union Health Ministry Health Minister K.K. Shylaja told the media the State government was in touch with the Union Health Ministry, which has promised all possible help. “A team headed by the director of the NCDC reached the spot today [Tuesday] and another ...of doctors from the AIIMS and RML shall be landing tomorrow. The Government of India is fully committed to extending all support to the State government,” Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said on Twitter. Ms. Shylaja said that of the 18 samples tested, 12 had returned positive. The Nipah virus infection had not yet spread among the community and only those who were in direct contact with the initial victims had contracted it. As the incubation period was between four and 18 days, the Health Department is monitoring all those who possibly had contact with any of the deceased. Seventeen persons are under observation at the Government Medical College Hospital<doc-sep>At least 10 people have now died in southern India from confirmed cases of the deadly Nipah virus, officials have said. Dozens more have been quarantined amid public panic in the state of Kerala, and a team of experts has been dispatched to the coastal region from India’s National Centre for Disease Control in the capital, New Delhi. The World Health Organisation (WHO) told The Independent it was in close contact with local experts and awaiting further assessment reports. Dr Henk Bekedam, the body’s WHO Representative to India, praised the authorities for their “quick response to the situation”. At a news conference on Tuesday, Kerala’s health minister K K Shailaja said that of 18 people screened for the virus since the first death on Friday, 12 had tested positive and 10 had died. A nurse who treated suspected Nipah patients at a hospital in Perambra, 31-year-old Lini Puthusheri, was named as the tenth victim. A well in Kozhikode was reportedly full of bats, which are known carriers of the Nipah virus (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images) Though only identified in 1999, Nipah ranks alongside Ebola and Zika on the latest WHO list of diseases most likely to result in a catastrophic global pandemic. There is no vaccine or cure, and the virus is fatal in up to 70 per cent of cases. The virus can be transmitted from human to human. Fruit bats are seen to be the most common animal carriers in southern Asia, and previous outbreaks have stemmed from people drinking raw date palm sap in areas where the bats are active. J P Nadda, the health minister of India, said the central government was “extending full support to the state”. He said the team from the National Centre for Disease Control had arrived in Kerala on Tuesday, and that two more from leading medical facilities in Delhi would be arriving on Wednesday. Ms Shailaja said the health department in the state, which is a popular destination for tourists, was “hopeful we can put a stop to the outbreak”. “This is a new situation for us,” she said. “We have no prior experience in dealing with the Nipah virus.” Health officials said they found mangoes bitten by bats in a home in Kozhikode city, where three of the first patients died – all members of the same family. U V Jose, a local government official, said bats were found in a well used by the family. “We have closed the well and evacuated the people living nearby,” he said. Animal control agents have been ordered to collect bats for testing across the city. Neighbours and other residents had been concerned by the deaths and were “swarming” local hospitals, Mr Jose said. “A large number of people affected by fever, and even minor ailments, are swarming to hospitals, fearing they have contracted the disease. We’ve sought the help of private hospitals to tide over the crisis.” The nurse who died in Perambra, Ms Puthusheri, was praised for her “selfless service” by Kerala’s Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. Ms Puthusheri had been “disturbed” by the death of her patient, her husband Sajeesh told The Hindu newspaper. He said she developed a fever herself “a day or two” later. Fears of transmission meant she was unable to speak to her husband or two young children in person before her death, and the health department requested her body be immediately cremated rather than returned to her community. Kerala’s tourism minister, Kadakampally Surendran, was among many who shared on social media a letter Ms Puthusheri wrote to her husband from her isolation unit. In a mixture of English and the local Malayalam language, she told him: “I think I am almost on my way. I may not be able to see you again. Sorry. Please look after our children.” The WHO says Nipah has an incubation period of five to 14 days before people show symptoms, which can make it harder to stop the infection from spreading. “Tracing all contacts of the affected persons in the recent past, testing and observing them, and treating them early, is the key to rapidly curtail the spread of the disease and minimise fatalities,” Dr Bekedam said. He added that it was vital for hospitals to put in place “good infection control practices”. “WHO has provided guidelines and information on Nipah virus to the government and stands ready for any other request for assistance,” he said.<doc-sep>Criminal cases against those who spread false information on Nipah virus: Kerala police Kerala Police has asked people to refrain from spreading fake messages on Nipah virus, adding that criminal cases will be registered against the propagators. In a press note, the police said, 'Creation of fake or false messages, spreading them to cause panic or public disorder are criminal acts and liable for investigation and prosecution. Those who forward such messages in the Social Media will also face investigation and prosecution.' Kerala Health Minister KK Shaylaja had also asked people not to panic and believe what is said on social media. “Only believe what the official channels of the government are telling you,” she said. The rumours on social media, especially WhatsApp, have been a major impediment to the process of awareness and dissemination of information in the area, both locals and authorities agree. Some deaths in the area, which have no connection whatsoever to the virus, get attributed to the outbreak and subsequently end up being hyped up among the local population. “Some news channels with vested interests pick this up and play it again and again. Yes, it’s a serious situation and we have to be careful. But it’s nothing on the scale that it’s being hyped up as,” said Moosa, who had worked in the Gulf for a long time before settling down here. “People are calling us from the Gulf asking if it’s safe to come here. They are cancelling their vacations,” he added. Read | WhatsApp rumours have hurt us the most, say locals<doc-sep>KOZHIKODE: One more person undergoing treatment for Nipah infection died at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital , on Thursday. The deadly virus has so far claimed 17 lives.The victim Rasin, 25, hailed from Naduvannur in the district. Rasin, who was tested negative for Nipah a few days ago was tested positive for Nipah after second test.The health department officials are yet to confirm whether Rasin was in the contact list. Rasin was shifted to Medical College from Balussery taluk hospital following severe fever and symptoms of Nipah.Two persons P Madhusoodhanan (55) and Akhil (28) had died of Nipah on Wednesday.<doc-sep>
At least nine people are feared to have died in North Kerala from the Nipah virus, an infection which has high fatality rate and spreads mainly through bats, pigs and other animals, state health officials said. More deaths have been reported from the area but the cause of these deaths is not known yet. “The situation is well under control. Officially, we have confirmed nine fever deaths from the two districts of Kozhikkode and Malappuram. Of these, four cases have been confirmed to be Nipah-infected,” Kerala’s health minister KK Shailaja told the Hindustan Times. Two of the deaths on Monday took place in the Kozhikode Medical College and two others died at the taluk hospital. The Union Health Ministry has rushed a team of experts to assist the state which is struggling to cope with the outbreak. The high-level team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been asked to assist the Kerala government and closely monitor the situation. “We are closely monitoring the situation. I have spoken to tourism minister K J Alphons and Kerala health minister K K Shailaja , and assured them all support of the central government. I have also dispatched a central team to assist the state government and initiate required steps,” Union health minister J P Nadda said in a statement from Geneva. Read: All you need to know about Nipah virus On Sunday night, the fears of the Nipah virus came true with Kerala’s Health Director RL Saritha announcing it after eight people had died. “The National Virology Institute in Pune has confirmed that the dead were infected with Nipah virus,” Saritha said Sunday night. She did not mention how many of the dead had tested positive. There is no vaccine or medicine for the disease and only form of treatment is supportive medicines and palliative care. At least 12 people are admitted in various hospitals and 20 others are under observation. Many families who were staying closer to the affected dwellings have been evacuated to safer places and domestic animals are also under observation, a senior health official said. The state health department has decided to set up isolation wards in government and private hospitals to contain the deadly virus. Lini, a nurse who attended to the two men who died, was herself hospitalised for a week before she died Monday morning. Her body was cremated at the electric crematorium immediately triggering strong protests from her relatives because it was not handed over to them. The body of another person who died, Velauthan (64), was also cremated in the electric crematorium to prevent the disease from spreading. Agitated heath workers complained that they have not been given enough precautionary gadgets to contain the infection. The outbreak started with the death of three members of a family in Perambra in a span of two weeks. At least four others of the family are admitted in the hospital with same symptoms. Local people said they had informed the authorities after the death of some domesticated animals but their complaints were ignored. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) India reported two outbreaks of Nipah virus encephalitis in West Bengal, bordering Bangladesh, in 2001 and 2007. Seventy one cases with 50 deaths (70% of the cases) were reported in two outbreaks. The first identification of Nipah virus as a cause of an outbreak of encephalitis was reported in 2001 in Meherpur district of Bangladesh. The WHO says Nipah virus (NiV) encephalitis is an emerging infectious disease of public health importance in the South-East Asia Region. (With inputs from PTI)