Kerala govt confirms 10 deaths due to Nipah virus, 2 others critical | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Kerala govt confirms 10 deaths due to Nipah virus, 2 others critical

Press Trust of India, Kozhikode | By
May 22, 2018 02:22 PM IST

The Kerala health minister said the WHO were informed of the outbreak.

The Kerala health ministry on Tuesday said the Nipah virus has so far claimed 10 lives in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in north Kerala while the condition of two persons undergoing treatment for the viral disease is said to be critical.

Animal Husbandry department and forest officials collect bats from a well of a house after the outbreak of Nipah virus, near Perambra in Kozhikode on Monday.(PTI)
Animal Husbandry department and forest officials collect bats from a well of a house after the outbreak of Nipah virus, near Perambra in Kozhikode on Monday.(PTI)

Health minister KK Shylaja said two people – Rajan and Ashokan, who were undergoing treatment at Kozhikode, died in the morning from the virus, she said.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been informed about the outbreak of the virus in Kerala, she added.

A nursing assistant, Lini, who died on Monday had also contracted the virus, she said.

Of the 18 samples sent for testing, 12 have tested positive for the virus, of which 10 people have died.

Two deaths reported on May 20 from Malappuram – Sindhu and Sijitha – have tested positive for Nipah virus.

The two had come to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for treatment and had been in touch with one of the infected persons who had died of the virus, the minister said.

No fresh case has been reported so far, she said adding the WHO has been informed.

Shyalaja said Union health minister, JP Nadda, who is in Geneva, had called her and enquired about the situation in the state and has promised all help from the central government.

An expert team from the National Centre for Disease -Control (NCDC), including its director, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh and Head of Epidemiology, Dr SK Jain, are already in Kerala.

A high level team from AIIMS has also reached the state, she said.

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