Nipah virus: Two unnatural deaths in Kerala, health alert issued

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Health Department sounded a health alert in Kozhikode district following two "unnatural" deaths suspected to be due to the Nipah virus infection.

State Health Minister Veena George held a high-level meeting and reviewed the situation, the health department said in a statement on Monday night.

It said two "unnatural" deaths following fever were reported from a private hospital, and it is suspected that these were due to the Nipah virus.

Relatives of one of the deceased are also admitted to the intensive care unit, it said. Deaths due to Nipah virus infection were reported in Kozhikode district in 2018 and 2021.

The first Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak in south India was reported from Kozhikode on May 19, 2018.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person.

Among infected people, it causes a range of illnesses, from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.

The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers, WHO said.

Why is Nipah a serious problem?

According to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan MD, DNB, MRCP(UK), American Board Certification in Medicine, American Board Certification in Gastroenterology, even though the total number of deaths from Nipah virus infection is small when compared to other conditions such as cancer, heart disease, suicides and accidents, Nipah outbreaks affect the social, emotional and economic health of large sections of healthy and productive people.

How can we prevent Nipah virus?

-One of the prevention strategies employed in Bangladesh was to discourage consumption of tari, the raw date palm sap.

-Strategies to keep bats away from the tapping apparatus are also being employed.

-Some experts suggest avoiding toddy collected in open pots, particularly in areas infested with bats.

-While visiting trees, infected fruit bats could leave traces of the virus along with their saliva as they bite on ripe fruits. Some of these fruits drop on the ground, and the bat moves on in search of other fruit.

-Fruit purchased from the market is safe, but should be washed thoroughly as always before consumption.

Inputs from PTI