Kozhikode: A day after Nipah was confirmed in a 43-year-old man from Ramanattukara, no new cases have been detected in Kozhikode, said health minister K Muraleedharan on Friday. However, three people under quarantine have been admitted to hospital for observation and their samples sent for testing.
According to health officials, the patient currently undergoing treatment after testing Nipah positive was administered first dose of monoclonal antibody treatment in accordance with ICMR guidelines and on medical board’s recommendation. Additionally, health department published the patient’s route map.
Meanwhile, 10 more people have been added to the contact list, taking the total under surveillance to 87, including four in highest-risk category, 16 in high-risk category and 67 in low-risk category. Control room officials are contacting all those on the list twice daily to collect information.
As part of preventive measures, health workers surveyed 286 houses in ward 5 of Ramanattukara municipality. They identified twelve people with fever, but none showed symptoms associated with Nipah. A RRT meeting was held in Ramanattukara on Friday to review ongoing activities. Experts from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are scheduled to visit the district on Saturday.
To strengthen containment measures, animal husbandry department set up a district-level control room after Nipah case confirmation to prevent animal-to-human transmission and coordinate response measures. The control room is functioning at animal disease control project office under district animal husbandry office on Bank Road, Kozhikode. According to officials, surveillance has been intensified in Ramanattukara municipality and nearby areas. Special monitoring and field inspections have been launched, focusing on locations with bat presence, domestic animals and pig farms. Information regarding symptoms in animals or presence of bats can be reported to the control room on 0495-2762050.
On health minister and collector’s contrasting statements over National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, confirming Nipah results, Muraleedharan blamed Kozhikode collector for the controversy. He said the collector lacked experience and should have informed the minister immediately on receiving the results.
Meanwhile, Kozhikode MLA P A Mohamed Riyas said he was in touch with health minister, district administration and health officials immediately after learning of Nipah virus confirmation in a Ramanattukara native two days ago. Riyas said he urged health minister to camp in the district and coordinate Nipah containment activities. He said when Nipah cases were reported during the previous two LDF govts, the health minister had camped in the district on instructions from chief minister and district minister-in-charge. He said those interventions had strengthened and improved the efficiency of containment measures by bringing together health workers, district administration, people’s representatives and the public.
