Thread by @NewsBytesApp

A 12-year-old boy died of the Nipah virus at a hospital in Kerala on Sunday, triggering alarm among the authorities and the public. Now, 251 people on the victim's contact list have been isolated and a habitat of fruit bats has been found in his locality.
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Of the 251 people in quarantine, 11 have developed symptoms of the infection, said the state's Health Minister Veena George. All of them are said to be stable. Meanwhile, the test results for the 8 of the contacts have returned negative, and further testing is currently underway.

The state govt has sounded an alert in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannur. A team of the state animal husbandry dept collected samples of fruit bats from Chathamangalam, the deceased boy's village. Samples of possibly contaminated half-eaten rambutan fruits were also taken by them.

The central team conducted field investigations with local officials and interacted with the relatives of the victim. Union Health Ministry has advised the state govt to search for more cases. It also underlined the need to establish 24x7 control room & daily talks with media.

The authorities have sealed off the area surrounding the victim's home. A door-to-door survey will be carried out to ensure that no contact is left out. George said that facilities for point-of-care and RT-PCR testing would be arranged at the Kozhikode Government Medical College.

This is the 2nd Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in the past 3 years. It had earlier witnessed infections in 2018, leading to 17 deaths. Kerala is already reeling under a high rate of daily COVID-19 infections & deaths. The state reports just under 70% of India's new cases per day.

Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus, meaning it's transmitted from animals to humans. It can also spread through contaminated foods or direct human-to-human interaction. Common symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, cough, sore throat, breathing problems and vomiting.