Nipah Virus alert now sounded in Rajasthan after 14-year-old dies in Kerala from the virus

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Days after a 14-year-old boy succumbed to Nipah virus in Kerala, an alert for the deadly disease has been issued in Rajasthan, the officials said on Monday.

Director of Health Directorate Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur issued an order alerting all the medical college principals, CMHO and PMOs and instructing them to detect the suspected patients coming to the hospital and to share their information.

Doctors have said that patients complain of severe headaches and fever. "Its symptoms can become severe over time. The risk of brain infection or encephalitis can increase due to this virus attack," the doctors said.

Instructions have also been passed to keep an eye on the passengers travelling from Kerala. The administration has also alerted the hotel operators to monitor the tourists coming from Kerala.

The 14-year-old boy who died from the virus in Mallapuram district of Kerala exhibited Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) symptoms and was admitted to a local healthcare facility before being transferred to a bigger health facility in Kozhikode. The Centre advised the state governments for active case searches in the family of the confirmed case, the neighbourhood, and areas with similar topography. The Central government also advised them for active contact tracing (for any contacts) during the past 12 days, strict quarantine of the contacts of the case and isolation of any suspects and collection and transportation of samples for lab testing.

The outbreaks of Nipah Virus Disease (NiVD) have been reported in Kerala in the past, with the most recent one occurring in 2023 in the Kozhikode district. Fruit bats are the usual reservoir of the virus.

(With inputs from IANS)

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