After two people died from Nipah virus in Kerala’s Kozhikode, the bordering areas of Karnataka have been put on alert. Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar, Puttur, Sullia and Mangaluru city are the taluks under socio-medical surveillance.
The deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, Mullai Muhilan, told this reporter that the district health department has opened a series of isolation wards across the district in every taluk hospital. Primary health centres and urban health centres are also given information about the symptoms associated with the virus.
In addition, those travelling between Dakshina Kannada and the bordering Kasargod in north Kerala will be under surveillance, Muhilan added. Kasargod shares borders with Mangaluru city, Puttur taluk and Sullia Taluk.
Similarly, Gundlupet taluk, which borders the Mysuru district and its suburban areas, is under surveillance.
Moreover, the deputy commissioners of Mysuru and Dakshina Kannada have briefed their health department heads on increasing awareness about fever symptoms among people.
The state minister for health and family welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who had telephonic conferences with district heads of the administration, asked them to prepare their health facilities to address the situation.
Two infected people have died since August 30 in Kerala’s fourth Nipah outbreak since 2018, forcing authorities to declare containment zones in at least eight Kozhikode villages.
Though Kozhikode is 500 kilometres from Karnataka borders, the transmission may be imminent due to heavy passenger and goods movement between the border areas of the two states.
Some 58 wards across nine panchayats in Vadakara taluk of Kozhikode district have been declared containment zones. Only the entry and exit of essential services are allowed in these areas.
Shops selling essential goods are permitted to function from 7 am-5 pm. No time cap has been given for pharmacies and health centres.
Responding to the situation, Kerala’s health Minister, Veena George, said the entire state is prone to such infections according to studies by the World Health Organisation and Indian Council of Medical Research.
The Nipah strain found in Kerala this time is the Bangladesh variant, which is less infectious but has a high mortality rate. This strain spreads from human to human.
Neighbouring Tamil Nadu announced travellers coming from Kerala would be subjected to medical tests and those with flu symptoms would be isolated.
The Centre has rushed a team of five experts to monitor the situation in Kerala. The state government has been conducting rigorous surveillance and contact tracing, maintaining containment zones and providing medical aid to those infected.
Scientists from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, are also conducting bat surveys as part of the ongoing efforts. The experts have also been mandated to monitor the situation in neighbouring Karnataka.
The Nipah virus was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers and others in close contact with animals in Malaysia and Singapore.
Within India, outbreaks have occurred in the geographically distant states of West Bengal, near the Bangladesh border, and Kerala in the south. The virus is notorious for its high fatality rate, as evidenced in outbreaks in Siliguri (2001), Nadia (2007) and Kozhikode (2018).
A three-bed isolation ward has been prepared as a precautionary measure in the Gundlupet Taluk Hospital, Karnataka, said Taluk Medical Officer of Gundlupet, Dr Manjunath.
