Kerala : India’s southern state shut few schools, banks, offices and public transport, as authorities scrambled to rein in the spread of the rare and deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus that clamed two lives. An adult and a child are still infected in hospital, and more than 130 people have been tested for the virus.
This deadly virus spread via direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected bats, pigs or people, a state health official said. “We are focusing on tracing contacts of infected persons early and isolating anyone with symptoms,” said the state’s Health Minister Veena George, who told reporters the strain of the virus was being examined.
“Public movement has been restricted in parts of the state to contain the medical crisis.” Two infected people have died since Aug.30 in the state’s fourth outbreak of the virus since 2018, forcing authorities to declare containment zones in at least seven villages in the district of Kozhikode.
Strict isolation rules were adopted, with medical staff being quarantined after direct contact with the infected. The first victim was a small landholder in the district’s village of Marutonkara, a government official said. The victim’s daughter and brother-in-law, both infected, are in an isolation ward, with other family members and neighbours being tested.
The second death followed contact in hospital with the first victim, doctors’ initial investigation has shown, but the two were not related, added the official, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
