Thiruvananthapuram: Five years after the first ever outbreak in Kerala, the state Health Department issued a high alert in Kozhikode district following a suspected Nipah outbreak.
The alert was issued after medical experts raised doubts over two ‘unnatural deaths’ in the district.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George will reach Kozhikode on Tuesday to review the situation. Samples of deceased persons, whose identity have been withheld by the health department, were sent to Virology Lab in Pune to confirm the disease.
As per reports, the first death happened on August 30 at a private hospital. Four persons are under treatment with similar symptoms. One of them is a relative of the deceased person.
Kozhikode was the epicentre of Nipah in 2018 and 2021.
Nipah is a zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to humans. It can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person.
The case can be asymptomatic in the initial phase but would soon escalate to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.
