Family members of the patients admitted at the Kozhikode Medical College wear safety masks as a precautionary measure after the 'Nipah' virus outbreak, in Kozhikode, on Monday. PTIKozhikode: Panic spread in Kozhikode and neighbouring districts as the confirmed death toll from Nipah fever reached 10 by Tuesday. Two other deaths are also suspected to have been caused by the Nipah virus, though the test results are yet to be confirmed.
Health minister KK Shylaja, meanwhile, told media that Nipah-virus was detected in 12 people, of which the 10 have already died, and two are serious.
Amidst the deaths and spike in fever cases in the area, the absence of the Prevention of Epidemics and Infectious Diseases (PEID) Cell in the affected areas of Perambra has sparked criticism. However, the head of the department of community medicine at Government Medical College hospital Dr Thomas Bina, who also heads the district medical team here, told Onmanorama that in an emergency situation, their priority is to abate the panic among the patients and their bystanders and spread awareness about the disease.
The state-level PEID team is yet to arrive in Perambra to take first-hand account of the situation. A team of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, inspected the affected area on Monday. More experts in animal husbandry and neurology are expected to visit on Tuesday.
Three of a family in Changaroth, Perambra, died after they contracted the Nipah virus. They are Muhammed Salih, 26, and Muhammed Sabith, 24, sons of Sooppikkada Valachuketti Moosa. Third one who died of Nipah virus is Moosa’s brother Moideen’s wife Mariam, 50.
In Kozhikode district, five more fatalities that have been confirmed by the health officials as deaths due to Nipah fever are: Kandithazhe Cheriya Parambil Janaki, 45; Kurathipara Puthusseri Lini, 31, the nurse who attended to the affected patients at Perambra; Madambally Meethal Rajan, 47, of Vattachira, Koorachund; Asokan, 52, of Ummathoor, Nadapuram; and Thiruvod Mayippil Ismail, 50, of Kottoor, Naduvannoor.
In Malappuram, deaths of Shijitha, 23, wife of Padikkal Ubeesh of Thirurangadi and Mecheri Sindhu, 36, of Thirurangadi are also confirmed to have been caused by Nipah fever.
Two other deaths in Malappuram are also under scanner as the deceased are suspected to have contracted the Nipah virus. However, the lab results to the same is yet to arrive so that officials can confirm the exact cause. These unconfirmed cases are: Muhammed Shibli,14, son of Palayil Abdul Shukoor of Chattiparamba and Thazhathilthodi Velayudhan, alias Sundaran, 48, of Kolathur.
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