Viral fever claims two more dead in Kerala Nipah

Two more deaths were reported due to Nipah viral fever on Tuesday, taking the toll to ten in a month. The deceased has been identified as Rajan and Ashokan, both hailing from Kozhikode district, Kerela.  Considering the seriousness of the situation, the Centre on Monday rushed a high-level team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), including its director, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh and Head of Epidemiology, Dr SK Jain.

The team is expected to conduct a field visit to the hospitals and affected areas of Perambra village. Taking stock of the situation, Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh said that there was no need for people to panic. He also added that the state health department has taken all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Union Health Minister JP Nadda is also in close touch with the Kerala Health department. "We are closely monitoring the situation.

I have spoken to Tourism Minister K J Alphons and Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja and assured them all support of the Central government," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in a statement from Geneva Monday. The Nipah virus has so far claimed ten lives in Kerala. Reports say that at least eight people have been kept under observation over suspicion of Nipah virus contamination. As per a report on WHO website, Nipah is a newly emerging virus, which gets transferred from animals to humans, and it causes severe disease in both animals as well as humans. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the "Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus".