Nipah Virus: Union Health Secretary Writes To Kerala Counterpart On Measures For Dealing With Outbreak

Nipah Virus in Kerala: Based on the visit, the Central team said that Kerala should strengthen both the hospital and community-based surveillance.

A doctor dressed in PPE kit to treat patients in isolation wards

Chennai: The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday wrote to Kerala Chief Secretary VP Joy on measures to be taken by the state in the wake of the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode. The Union Health Secretary made the suggestions based on a report by the Central team from the National Centre for Disease Control that visited the district on Sunday. 

According to the letter shared by news agency ANI, Rajesh Bhushan stated that the central team visited the epi-centre, the house of the 12-year-old boy and interacted with the family members, neighbours, field health functionaries, ward members and local elected representatives to review the event-based surveillance on September 5. 

Based on the visit, the Central team said that the state should strengthen both the hospital and community-based surveillance and awareness should be created among field formations for early detection of the disease. The team also said that active searches should be taken in containment zones to detect the virus and nearby districts including Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad should be put on alert. 

On contact tracing, the team suggested the district authorities identify primary and secondary contacts and prepare a list of high and low-risk contacts. The team also suggested quarantining all the high-risk contacts. 

The central team identified Government Medical College Kozhikode as the treatment centre and told the government to earmark adequate single room isolation facilities and ICUs. They also suggested that the government stock antiviral Ribavirin and PPEs at the district level. 

On the coordination of information, the team said 24x7 control rooms should be set up for daily reporting and sharing of information with the media. All the more, the health department should coordinate with the Animal Health and WildLife Department and other field officers to trap the fruit bats and collect their samples for virological studies and other associated measures.