Is The Nipah Virus Coming To Your Town? Here Is an Update From Various States

The dreaded Nipah virus has claimed 17 lives till now, with 16 of them in Kerala alone where the current outbreak is suspected to have originated. Although health officials have assured the rest of the country that the infection has been contained and localised, paranoia around the disease continues to prevail. Fruit sales in Kerala have been dwindling, and the tourism sector has taken a hit. Most people in the state prefer to stay indoors for fear of catching an infection.

To assuage the public, state governments in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Telangana, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Delhi have all assured the public that necessary steps have been taken to tackle the disease in case of an outbreak. Specialised isolation wards have also been set up in Maharashtra and Goa in case of any suspected case of breakouts.

But with the death of a soldier Seenu Prasad in Kolkata, supposedly of Nipah virus-induced fever, fears of the virus spreading to the rest of the country has been renewed. Here’s an upshot of all the Nipah-related updates from across the country.

Kerala

The ground zero of the 2018 Nipah outbreak is Perambra in Kozhikode and 16 deaths have been recorded in the state in total. An advisory has been issued by the Kerala government against travelling to three other districts apart from Kozhikode: Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad. Isolation ward has been set up in Thalassery government hospital in Kannur and anganwadis in the Kozhikode district has been shut down. Crisis management team has been set up, following the deaths in Kozhikode and Malappuram.

Maharashtra

As of today, no cases of Nipah have been reported in the state, and the state government has assured the public that there is no need to panic. But Health Minister Deepak Sawant has advised people to not travel to Kerala’s Kozhikode or other places where there have been Nipah cases. Isolation wards have been set up in major hospitals as a precautionary measure.

Goa

Since Goa is situated along the same coastline as Kerala, the fear of the virus spreading to the state has caused concern among the people. But as of today, the state is considered safe. The only Nipah-related scare that happened in the state was when a Malayali-man was suspected of carrying the virus was kept for observation at a hospital in Goa. The man who was passing through Goa and was heading towards Uttar Pradesh. The authorities were alerted when he fell unconscious at Thivim station. But luckily, his tests results came out negative for Nipah virus, according to Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

Rajasthan

No cases of Nipah have been reported in Rajasthan. However, taking note of several deaths that have happened in Kerala due to the Nipah virus, the state has issued guidelines regarding the virus. Clinicians have been advised to consider the possibility of a Nipah infection in people who have seizures, fever and respiratory illness that require hospitalisation. Additional Chief Secretary Veena Gupta who issued the guidelines has also assured people that there’s no need to panic.

Himachal Pradesh

Alarm bells rang out in the state when Siramur district of Himachal Pradesh reported a large number of dead bats. Panic spread when the dead fruit bats were found at Government Senior Secondary School in Barmapapri earlier this week. But the tests results rule out Nipah virus infection as the possible cause of death. Himachal Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary of Health BK Aggarwal appealed to the residents of the state to not panic since all medical colleges in the state were prepared to deal with any incidence of Nipah. Fruit farmers and pig handlers are asked to maintain hygiene and to be wary of getting infected.

Delhi

The capital has reported no cases of Nipah. However, the government has issued an advisory to people to be wary of consuming fruits. They have been warned against consuming date palm sap and eating seasonal fruits like mangoes that have fallen off trees, especially if the fruits have bite marks of bats or other creatures. The advisory has also urged people to follow proper respiratory hygiene like covering the mouth and nose while coughing and to not self-medicate. Healthcare workers are asked to use full barrier protective equipment before examination of patients.

Bihar

Bihar government has issued a Nipah virus alert in the light of the outbreak in Kerala. People have been asked to keep a distance from bats and pigs. They have also been warned against eating fruits without washing them.

North Eastern States

The North Eastern states are particularly vulnerable to Nipah due to its geographical proximity to states such as West Bengal and countries like Nepal, Bhutan where previous contagions were reported. The states also have a thriving piggery industry, and pigs are one of the secondary carriers of the virus.

Earlier, there were reports on the social media that claimed some cases of Nipah were detected in the Meghalaya, but the state’s Health Service Director K Rajo quashed the rumours. He assured that precautionary measures had been taken by the people and he has advised everyone to eat fruits only after washing them. Hospitals are also asked to stay guarded against people coming from other states with low grade fever. Isolation wards have been set up at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and JN Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.

West Bengal

The situation in West Bengal has turned tense after a soldier hailing from Kerala died due to a suspected Nipah virus infection. The 27-year-old named Seenu Prasad was posted at Kolkata and had returned after a month-long stay in Kerala a day after West Bengal’s Director of Health Services Dr. Ajay K Chakraborty dismissed suspected Nipah cases in the state. The state has a history with Nipah contagion. In 2001, the city of Siliguri was hit by the virus, turning the city into a ghost town.

As of now, the death toll is 17, and the outbreak is pretty much contained in Kozhikode, barring the one incident at West Bengal which hasn’t been attributed to Nipah yet. As far as more encouraging news is concerned, the human monoclonal antibody, which has proven benefits against the Nipah virus, is being imported from The University of Queensland. India is also looking to procure the cell line of the virus to produce the antibody locally.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 01, 2018 07:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).