Kerala confirms Nipah virus cases, Centre sends team of experts

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday sent a team of experts to Kerala after it was confirmed that two people in Kozhikode died of the Nipah virus.

While one person died on September 11, the other died on August 30.

A 9-year-old child and a 24-year-old relative of the person, who died on Monday (September 11), also tested positive for the Nipah virus.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that five samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for



testing.

Out of the five, three were positive, including the person who died yesterday. Based on this, the state minister said that the first person who died on August 30 must also be positive for the virus.

"We are intensively doing contact tracing - high-risk contact, low-risk contact. We will trace everybody who came in contact with the people who tested positive," the Kerala Health Minister said.

The Kerala Health Department had also issued an alert after the two deaths in Kozhikode.