Second wave of Nipah infection in Kerala unlikely, says Veena

Kerala Health Minister Veena George reports no new Nipah cases & few chances of a second wave. Six infected, two dead, four under treatment. 1,192 on contact list, 21 in isolation. Central team visits second deceased's house & collects areca nut samples. Police arrest person for spreading false info.

The current Nipah episode in Kerala seems to be under control and there are few chances of a second wave of the infection, Health Minister Veena George has said.

She told the media on Saturday evening that no fresh cases had been reported on the day so far. Eleven more body fluid samples of suspected patients had turned out to be negative for the virus. All of them were high-risk contacts of the infected persons.

The Minister said one of the contacts of the 39-year-old infected person from Cheruvannur had gone into isolation after exhibiting symptoms. Collection of details of other contacts were on.

Six persons had so far tested positive for the virus. Two are dead and four are under treatment. Right now, 1,192 people are on the contact list of the infected persons.

“Indications are that the situation is under control now because all the other patients got infected from the first patient who died on August 30. It has been proved that the second patient who died on September 11 have had contacts with him. At this stage, there has not been a secondary wave. The results of some more samples are expected,” Ms. George said.

The Minister said twenty-one people, including two children, were under medical isolation at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode. Medical boards had been set up at the medical college and private hospitals where the infected persons had been admitted. Their condition was reported to be stable. Ms. George said the collection of body fluid samples of people from districts other than Kozhikode who were on the contact list would be completed soon.

The Central team of officials on Saturday visited the house and surroundings of the second deceased. They also collected areca nut samples and sought details of the presence of fruit-eating bats in the area. Meanwhile, the police recorded the arrest of person who spread misleading information about the infection through social media platforms.