Kochi: Eleven persons, who came in contact with Kerala's latest nipah victim who died, have shown symptoms of the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Monday.
The admission came even as the authorities scaled up the alert against the deadly virus in all the three affected districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram and Kannur.
Contact tracing in the case of the 12-year old boy who died on Sunday is continuing, with the authorities releasing a list of 251 persons, out of which 20 have been categorised as high-risk.
Two health workers, who attended to the boy, along with his mother are under treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College. The boy had been admitted to five hospitals in the area, including the Medical College, as his condition did not show any improvement.
A virus test lab is being set up at the Kozhikode Medical College for Nipah testing with help from the National Institute of Virology, Pune. Details of all those who had developed fever or died with Nipah-like symptoms in the last one month in the dead boy’s panchayat are being collected.
Simultaneously, the animal husbandry and forest department officials have launched a drive to identify the source of the infection. To determine the presence of fruit-eating bats, droppings and fruits from the nearby rambutan tree are being collected. The boy had reportedly eaten rambutan fruits from the tree.
In view of the risk, public service commission examinations scheduled for this month have been cancelled or re-scheduled.
