Union Health Minister asks NCDC Director to look into the spread of deadly Nipah virus in Kerala

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Jagat Prakash Nadda, tweeted on Sunday, "Reviewed the situation of deaths related to nipah virus in Kerala with Secretary Health. I have directed Director NCDC to visit the district and initiate required steps as warranted by the protocol for the disease in consultation with state government."

Although the number of people who have succumbed to the virus and those who have been hospitalised are a little sketchy, according to All India Radio news on Monday, death toll from nipah virus-induced fever in north Kerala has risen to 10.

According to NDTV, three confirmed deaths from the mysterious new Nipah virus has been reported from Kerala's Kozhikode, and more suspected.

The channel quoted Dr Reena, Additional Director of  Communicable Disease in Kerala Government, as saying that two of the victims were brothers and the third, a woman, was a relative who had visited them in hospital.

She also said that eight people, suspected to have contracted the virus, are being monitored in a special ward in Kozhikode Medical College as well as three other hospitals.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Nipah virus (NiV) infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans.

The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus.

NiV infection in humans has a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis.

NiV is also capable of causing disease in pigs and other domestic animals.

There is no vaccine for either humans or animals. The primary treatment for human cases is intensive supportive care, according to WHO.