Nipah restrictions in 20 wards in Malappuram, 6 in Palakkad

Health authorities in the State have intensified the vigil against the spread of the deadly Nipah virus following the detection of one case each in Malappuram and Palakkad districts.

Palakkad District Collector G. Priyanka on Friday (July 4) declared six wards in Thachanattukara and Karimpuzha grama panchayats as containment zones after a 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara tested positive for Nipah. She is battling for life at a private hospital at Perinthalmanna.

Malappuram Collector V.R. Vinod declared 20 wards in Makkaraparamba, Koottilangadi, Kuruva and Mankada panchayats as containment zones. An adolescent girl from Chettiyarangadi near Makkaraparamba, who died in Kozhikode on July 1, tested positive for Nipah.

Residents within a 3-km radius of the infected persons’ houses have been advised to avoid gatherings. They have to wear N-95 masks when venturing out.

People in Malappuram and Palakkad districts have been advised to avoid crowding as well as visiting patients in hospitals. Educational institutions in containment areas, including anganwadis, tuition centres and madrasas, will remain closed. Shops can function from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Health Minister Veena George, after reviewing the situation at a high-level meeting of health officials on Friday evening, said that 345 people were on the contact list of the Nipah-affected persons. She warned people against disturbing or driving away bats from their colonies.

In Malappuram, 211 people are on the contact list. In Palakkad, 91 people are on the contact list and in Kozhikode, 43 people are on the list. Those on the contact list should remain in quarantine. All the 43 persons in Kozhikode are healthcare workers.

Health workers in Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts are working overtime to prepare the route map of the Nipah affected persons and to trace their contacts. Both the persons reportedly developed symptoms of Nipah on June 25 and 26.

Health staff will collect three weeks’ data from Thachanattukara (in Palakkad district) and Chettiyarangadi near Mankada (in Malappuram district) and will investigate if anyone there had died due to encephalitis or pneumonia in June.

The district administration has taken over two floors (sixth and eighth) of Government Medical College, Palakkad, as part of its preparedness to fight the Nipah spread. People have been asked to exercise vigil against Nipah, whose symptoms include fever with severe headache, fatigue, sore throat, muscle pain, vomiting, breathing difficulties, paralysis, blurred vision, mental disorientation, seizures, and loss of consciousness.

Caregivers and those in close contact with people showing such symptoms should use N95 masks and gloves as the virus spreads through bodily fluids. People have been warned against consuming fruit and vegetables partly eaten by birds or animals.

Ms. Priyanka cautioned the public against disturbing or chasing away bats, warning that stressed bats may produce more bodily fluids, potentially increasing the risk of virus transmission.