Ajay.U.K

The presence of the contagious Nipah virus has been confirmed to have hit Kerala once again as the Health Minister of the State KK. Shailaja addressed the media in Kochi on the report received from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune .

The report confirmed the 23-year old college student admitted in the city has been affected with NiV and 2 people out of the 86 who were under medical observation were admitted. The nurses who treated the patients have also been identified to have fever symptoms. Samples of the second patient would be sent soon to NIV Alappuzha, Manipal and NIV Pune.

The Union Health Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan also extended support to the state and said there is no need to panic and the Central government will stand in solidarity with the state government.

Union Health Min Harsh Vardhan: I have assured the Kerala Health Minister of all possible support from the Central govt. We are also in touch with wildlife department to seek their help for subjecting the bats for testing of the virus. I don't think there is any need to panic. https://t.co/3n4unpOqy0

— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2019

The CMO Kerala, on Monday, had informed the public on a possible outbreak and had asked the people to be cautious.

A suspected case of Nipah infection has been reported in Ernakulam. CM Pinarayi Vijayan has informed that the Government is closely monitoring the situation. CM has also requested everyone to follow the instructions of the health department.

— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) June 3, 2019

The state had successfully curbed the virus outbreak last year in parts of Kozhikode and Malappuram and is once again hopeful the situation won’t turn into an epidemic.