The Health department has sounded a health alert in Kozhikode district, following the reporting of two unnatural deaths following fever at a private hospital, an official release issued by the office of the Health Minister said here late on Monday.
The deaths are suspected to be due to Nipah Virus (NiV) and the relatives of one of the deceased are said to be in intensive care, the statement said.
High-level meet
The Health Minister Veena George has convened a high-level meeting. More details are not forthcoming at the moment.
It may be recalled that Kerala has had three Nipah outbreaks so far, two of which were in Kozhikode.
The first NiV outbreak from South India was reported from Kozhikode in May 2018. A total of 23 cases were identified, including the index case with 18 laboratory-confirmed cases. The number of deaths in this first outbreak was 17 .
The second instance was a single case that was reported in 2019 at Ernakulam.
Nipah was reported again in 2021 in Kozhikode when a 12-year-old died of encephalitis and this time too, the outbreak was confined to a single case.
