State worst affected by coronavirus has been put on alert for another deadly virus

The state of Kerala in southern India is stepping up efforts to curb a possible outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus, even as the province continues to face the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.

Kerala is on high alert after a 12-year-old boy died from the rare virus Last Sunday, forcing health authorities to start contact tracing work and isolate hundreds of people who came into contact with the minor, who died in the coastal city of Calcutta.

On Tuesday, the state health minister told reporters that samples from eight primary contacts were negative.

“The fact that these eight immediate contacts were negative is great reliefVeena George said, still concerned.

Nipah, which was originally identified during an outbreak in the late 1990s in Malaysia, can be spread through fruit bats, pigs, and even human-to-human contact.

There is no vaccine against the virus, which can cause fever, seizures and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep the patient as stable as possible.

The virus has a estimated mortality rate between 40 and 75 percentAccording to the World Health Organization, a figure much higher than that of the coronavirus.

George said most of the samples will be tested on Tuesday and that a total of 48 contacts, including the eight who tested negative, are under observation In a hospital. Authorities will also conduct door-to-door surveillance to identify secondary contacts.

Over the weekend, the federal government sent a team of experts to Calcutta to help local authorities trace contacts. They also proposed a list of recommendations, including strengthening of health infrastructure in the event of new infections, as well as alerting neighboring districts.

The state of Kerala faced an outbreak of Nipah in 2018, when more than a dozen people died from the virus. On this occasion, the concern is aggravated by the fact that the state has hit the headlines in recent weeks for having recorded highest number of daily Covid-19 infections in all the countries.

On Monday, the province recorded nearly 20,000 coronavirus infections, out of a total of 31,222 nationwide. As cases across the country have declined after a devastating rebound earlier this year, the situation in Kerala remains worrying and experts warn the state cannot let its guard down.

With access point information

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