Form of words:
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Wednesday that antibodies against Nipah virus were found in samples from two varieties of bats by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, giving rise to speculation that bats were spreading the deadly infection.
Talking to reporters, the minister said that NIV Pune had collected samples of different types of bats from Kozhikode, where a single instance of Nipah infection was reported this year, in which a 12-year-old patient died of the virus on September 5. Was.
She said tests on two varieties of the mammal indicated the presence of IgG antibodies against Nipah.
The remaining samples are also being tested by the laboratory and its results will be available soon, the minister said.
The health department was on high alert since September 4, when a 12-year-old child was found infected with the Nipah virus.
A radius of three kilometers from his house was cordoned off and door-to-door surveillance and samples were tested.
The first Nipah virus disease outbreak in South India was reported from Kerala’s Kozhikode district on May 19, 2018, and as of June 1, 2018, there were 17 deaths and 18 confirmed cases.
The outbreak was contained and declared by June 10, 2018.
Subsequently, in June 2019, a new case of Nipah was reported from Kochi and the only patient was a 23-year-old student, who later recovered.
With one case reported this year, this is the fifth time the virus has been detected in India and the third time in Kerala.
read also: Veena George says results of 4 contacts of child who died of Nipah virus are negative
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