Kozhikode: Health minister Veena George has confirmed that no fresh case of Nipah virus was reported in Kozhikode on Saturday. Addressing the media here she announced that 11 samples collected from people including those listed in the high-risk category tested negative for the virus. Kerala reported six Nipah cases including two deaths till Friday. At present 21 people are put in isolation at Kozhikode Government Medical College. At the same time four people are currently undergoing treatment. “Medical boards have constituted in hospitals where Nipah patients are admitted. As per the review of the boards all patients are stable. The doctors have reported that health condition of child who is on ventilator support is improving” said the minister. The health department has been trying to trace the people who came into contact with the Cheruvannur native who tested positive on Friday. “ Apart from contact tracing we have taken the initiative to identify the index patients source of the infection. We have already sought the help of police to obtain the mobile tower location of this person” the minister added. The health minister has pointed out that confirming the index patient positive for the virus was a major effort of the health department. “ The private hospital where the deceased Maruthonkara native was admitted had collected his throat swab for influenza test. The health department had sent this sample for the Nipah test. On Friday National Institute of Virology forwarded the test results confirming that the person was infected with Nipah” said the minister. Meanwhile the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has decided to procure from Australia 20 more doses of monoclonal antibody for its treatment. In New Delhi while announcing the decision to procure 20 more doses of monoclonal antibody from Australia ICMR DG Rajeev Bahl said that mortality among the infected is very high in Nipah (between 40 and 70 per cent) compared to the mortality in COVID-19 which was 2-3 per cent. The central team was headed by Dr Subramanyam of the National Institute of Virology. Photo: PRD At the same time the central team arrived in Kozhikode to study the situation and conducted an inspection at the house of the index patient at the Maruthonkara panchayat. The central team headed by scientist Balasubramanyam comprises members including Hanul Thukral M Santhosh Kumar and Gajendrasingh. The Kerala Health department said it has identified a total of 1080 persons in the contact list of Nipah positive patients and has started collecting samples. The government had earlier announced that everyone who is on the high-risk contact list of the infected persons will be tested. Health workers wait to admit patients at a Nipah isolation ward at the Medical College in Kozhikode. Photo: PTI The ICMRs National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune had on Thursday sent its mobile BSL-3 (Biosafety Level-3) laboratory to Kozhikode to test the samples for the virus in the district. This is the fourth time the viral infection has been confirmed in the state. It was detected in Kozhikode in 2018 and 2021 and in Ernakulam in 2019. (With PTI inputs)

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