Thrissur: A 15-year-old girl undergoing treatment for suspected Nipah virus infection has tested negative. The girl, from Perinthalmanna in Malappuram, is currently being treated at the Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital. Manorama News reported that her samples were tested in Kozhikode. According to doctors, she is suffering from encephalitis. Her samples were sent for testing in Kozhikode after Nipah cases were reported in Malappuram and Palakkad.

Currently, 581 individuals from the districts of Malappuram, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, and Thrissur are on the contact list. Palakkad, where two Nipah cases were confirmed, tops the list with 420 people. Kozhikode and Malappuram follow with 96 and 63 individuals, respectively. One person each is under surveillance in Ernakulam and Thrissur. Among those under observation, 29 are in the highest risk category, while 78 are listed as high risk.

On July 12, Kerala reported its second confirmed Nipah virus death, after a 57-year-old man from Mannarkkad in Palakkad passed away at a private hospital in Malappuram. This marked the third Nipah case reported in the state in July. The state was placed on high alert after a 17-year-old Plus Two student from Malappuram died of Nipah infection at a private hospital in Kozhikode on July 1. The second case was confirmed in Palakkad, where a 38-year-old woman tested positive for the virus.

According to the WHO, the Nipah virus is a zoonotic disease that spreads from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or direct human-to-human contact. Symptoms of Nipah infection include headache, fever, vomiting, muscle pain, severe weakness, diarrhoea, cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath.