Kerala: 12-year-old dies due to Nipah virus; central team rushed to state

A 12yearold boy died due to Nipah virus infection at a hospital here Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on SundayThe samples of the boy which were sent to the Pune National Institute of Virology confirmed the presence of Nipah virusThe Central Government has rushed a team of the National Centre for Disease Control to the state which will be reaching on SundayThe team will provide technical support to the stateNipah virus is spread by saliva of the fruit batsGiving details of the case the minister told reporters Unfortunately the boy passed away at 5 in the morning The condition of the child was critical on Saturday night We formed various teams and have started the tracing Steps have been taken to isolate those who were the primary contacts of the boyThe minister said the infection was confirmed by the Pune NIV on Saturday nightAlso Read Kerala cautions against COVID spread in homesThree samples plasma CSF and serum were found infected He was admitted to the hospital with a heavy fever four days ago But on Saturday his condition became worse We had sent his samples for testing the day before yesterday the minister saidGeorge said none of the close contacts of the boy are showing any symptoms as of now and that the health department has already traced out the contacts of the childThere is nothing to worry about The health department is closely following up the situation Special officers have been posted and special teams were formed The patient was first taken to a private hospital then to the medical college and from there again shifted to a private hospital So we have traced all his contacts The friends he played with in his locality his cousins and others the health department had completed the identification and tracing of all these contacts George saidThe minister also asked the neighbouring Kannur and Malappuram districts to remain cautiousHospital sources said the boy will be cremated today itself following the health protocolPolice have cordoned off an area of three km radius around the house of the boyIn the wake of the virus resurfacing in Kerala the Centre has advised some immediate public health measures which include active case search in the family village and areas with similar topography especially in MalappuramThe measures also include active contact tracing for any contacts in the past 12 days strict quarantine of the contacts and isolation of any suspects and collection and transportation of samples for lab testing the ministry saidThe first Nipah virus disease outbreak in South India was reported from Kozhikode district of Kerala on May 19 2018 There have been 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases as of June 1 2018This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever