Rare Nipah virus kills 10 in Kerala

DEADLY DISEASE SPREAD BY FRUIT BATS PROMPTS QUARANTINES AND A STATE-WIDE HEALTH ALERT

THE death toll from an outbreak of the rare Nipah virus in southern India jumped to 10 on Tuesday (22) with more than 90 people quarantined to try to stem the spread of the disease, officials said.

Authorities in Kerala state ordered emergency measures to control the virus, which is spread by fruit bats, as tests are awaited from other suspect deaths.

Three of the fatalities are members of the same family – dead bats were found in a well at their home. A nurse who treated one of the family has also died, leaving a heart-wrenching note for her family.

“We sent 18 samples for testing. Out of these, 12 tested positive. Ten of those who tested positive have died and the remaining two are undergoing treatment,” a health official in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, the centre of the outbreak, said.

Ninety-four people who have come into contact with those who died have been kept in their homes.

“They have been quarantined as a precaution,” Kerala state health surveillance officer KJ Reena said.

The Indian government dispatched a team of officials from the National Centre for Disease Con­trol (NCDC) to investigate the outbreak, it said in a statement.

Medical camps and a control room have been set up in Kerala.

Residents have been urged to take precautions. which include avoiding eating fruit fallen on the ground and drinking raw date palm sap.

Nipah has killed more than 260 people in Malay­sia, Bangladesh and India since 1998 and has a mortality rate of nearly 70 per cent, according to the World Health Organization.

There is no vaccination for the virus, which in­duces flu-like symptoms that lead to an agonising encephalitis and coma.

Health experts stressed the need for early detec­tion and infection control to arrest the virus’s spread.

“It will not spread like wildfire because it is not airborne, but it can be risky if they don’t follow proper infection control procedures,” said Dr D Himanshu, of King George’s Medical University in the northern city of Lucknow.

The WHO has named Nipah as one of the eight priority diseases that could cause a global epidem­ic, alongside the likes of Ebola and Zika.

Among the dead in the Kerala outbreak was nurs­ing assistant and mother-of-two Lini Puthussery, who had helped to treat one of the original family suffering from Nipah.

Puthussery died on Monday (21) and was cre­mated before her family members could bid her a goodbye because of fears the virus could spread.

In a final note she scribbled while in a hospital isolation unit, she urged her husband to take care of the children.

‘I don’t think I will be able to see you again. Sorry. Please take care of our children,’ she wrote.

Kerala state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Puthussery’s “selfless service will be remem­bered”. (Agencies)