2 Kerala healthcare staff show Nipah symptoms

Kozhikode: Two healthcare workers, who are among the 20 high-risk contacts of the deceased 12-year old boy, have been identified with symptoms of Nipah virus infection, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said here on Sunday.

She said all the 20 high-risk contacts will be shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College by evening. "We have identified 188 contacts till now. The surveillance team have marked 20 of them as high-risk contacts. Two of these high risk contacts have symptoms.

Both are health workers. One works with a private hospital, while the other is a staff member of Kozhikode Medical College hospital," she told reporters after chairing a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation.

Other contacts of the child have been asked to remain in isolation. The pay ward at the Medical College Hospital has been completely converted into a dedicated Nipah ward, she said.

The boy died at a hospital here early Sunday. The samples of the boy, which were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirmed presence of the virus.

The Minister said the three km radius from the child's house has been made a strict containment zone. The adjacent areas are also under strict surveillance.

"We have asked the Pune NIV authorities to arrange a point-of-care testing facility at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital.

The NIV team will reach here and will do the needful. If in the initial test, the patient is found positive, then the sample will be sent to Pune NIV again for confirmation."