The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Thursday delivered the monoclonal antibody to Kozhikode requested by Kerala to combat the Nipah outbreak in the district, PTI reported.
The National Institute of Virology, a unit of ICMR, in Pune also sent its mobile laboratory (Biosafety level-3) to Kozhikode to test the samples for the deadly virus in the district after five cases, including two deaths, were reported. So far, the samples were being sent to the NIV, Pune.
The antiviral is the only option available to the government to treat the deadly virus, although its efficacy has not been clinically proven yet, the report said.
The report said a five-member central team comprising experts from the National Centre for Disease Control, RML Hospital and NIMHANS has been stationed in Kerala to take stock of the situation and assist the state government in the management of the Nipah outbreak.
Samples from bats will be collected to check for the presence of the Nipah virus.
The stability of the antiviral was discussed with a central expert committee, Kerala health minister Veena George said.
“Further steps or course of action would be decided by the expert committee,” George referred to consultations between the state government and the Union health ministry.
The ICMR’s mBSL-3, the first biosafety level-3 containment mobile laboratory of South Asia will help early testing and detection of the infection at the district itself.
The mobile laboratory was set up in February last year to investigate newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious and are potentially lethal for human beings.
Also, a fully-equipped mobile virology testing laboratory of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) was dispatched to the northern Kerala district to strengthen virus testing and detection. This is the fourth time the viral infection has been confirmed in the state.
In 2018 and 2021 it was detected in Kozhikode and in 2019 in Ernakulam. The m102.4 monoclonal antibody, an experimental therapeutic, was imported during the 2018 Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode for the treatment of infected patients, on compassionate grounds. It was not used back then, as by the time it arrived, the outbreak had ended.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar has reviewed the steps taken for the containment of the Nipah outbreak and visited NIV, Pune to take stock of preparations.
Kerala health minister said in the State Assembly that there was no need to be apprehensive about the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode but caution needs to be exercised by people as they go about their daily activities.
“There is no need for any apprehension. We can all together deal with the issue with caution,” she said.
The state has been vigilant and Kozhikode’s neighbouring districts of Kannur, Wayanad and Malappuram should also be cautious, George added.
The minister said a 19-member core committee, call centres, and a control centre have also been set up in Kozhikode district, along with isolation, ventilator and ICU facilities in the medical college there.
She also advised people to wear masks, maintain social distance and approach healthcare workers in case anyone shows symptoms of cold, fever, headache or cough.
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Updated: 14 Sep 2023, 10:42 PM IST