People on the contact list of Nipah-infected patients from Kozhikode district of Kerala have been told to isolate themselves for at least 21 days even as 71 more body fluid samples sent for lab tests have tested negative for the virus.
Health Minister Veena George said this after a meeting of district medical officers from Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Wayanad, Thrissur and Palakkad districts on Monday.
Also read: Deadly outbreak | Nipah virus
As many as 45 people are under quarantine in districts other than Kozhikode after they were found to have had contact with infected persons. Isolation ward and special ambulances have been kept ready in these places. The situation is reported to be under control now.
Ms. George said that the general alert against the infection would have to continue for some days even though there had been no new cases after September 15.
Of the six infected persons, two have died and others are under medical treatment now.
The Minister said that the condition of one of them, a nine-year-old child, was improving while the others were clinically stable.
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Meanwhile, the Central team of officials held discussions with the Minister based on their visits to affected areas, and interactions with the local residents and relatives of the infected persons. They said samples from fruit-eating bats for lab tests had been collected from Maruthonkara, the native place of the first patient, and surrounding areas.
It is learnt that they have expressed satisfaction with the containment steps. There is a bat survey team from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, another team from the National Centre for Disease Control and one more group from the Indian Council of Medical Research. Some officials from these teams will return late on Monday.
Also read | Why Nipah virus outbreaks are occurring only in Kerala
Another four-member Central team from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying began their field-level investigations in the affected places. They collected samples from pet animals, pigs, and fruit-eating bats too. An online meeting with State Minister for Animal Husbandry J. Chinchurani was held later. These officials are supposed to continue the work till Wednesday. They are joined by a team from the State Institute for Animal Diseases, Kerala.
The Kozhikode district administration late on Monday relaxed certain restrictions imposed on nine grama panchayats that were declared as containment zones on September 13.
