12-year-old boy dies in India from Nipah virus

12-year-old boy dies in India from Nipah virus

PanARMENIAN.Net - As the Indian state of Kerala reeled under a daily increase of nearly 30,000 cases of Covid-19, the deadly Nipah virus has come as another thorn in its side, prompting the state to further heighten the alertness of its health machinery to prevent an outbreak of a different infection. A 12-year-old boy died due to Nipah on Sunday, September 5 and two others displayed symptoms of the virus infection, NDTV reports.

The southern state, which already saw a localised outbreak of 63 cases of Zika virus in July that were mostly confined to Thiruvananthapuram, however, need not be concerned about the spread of Nipah infection as preventive measures like use of masks and PPE kits -- are already in place due to Covid-19 and intensive contact tracing was going on, state health minister Veena George said on Sunday.

Experts have said that there was less cause for concern at present as the state has already dealt with the Nipah virus twice in the past -- when it reared its head in 2018 and 2019 -- and the risk of transmission would be less this time round as protective measures, like wearing of masks and PPE kits, are already in place.

They also said that Nipah infections are usually confined to small clusters or areas.

The first Nipah virus disease outbreak in South India was reported from Kozhikode district in Kerala on May 19, 2018. There have been 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases as of June 1, 2018. The outbreak was contained and declared over by June 10, 2018. Thereafter, in June 2019, a new case of Nipah was reported from Kochi and the sole patient was a 23-year-old student, who later recovered.

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