Once again, Kerala is haunted by the deadly NEPA virus,
claiming the life of a 14 year old boy from
Mallapuram district.
With a fatality rate of 70 to 80%, the NEPA
virus poses a serious threat and the state health department
has identified 60 people at high risk.
Let's understand the threat better.
The Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus transmitted to humans
from animals, particularly bats and pigs.
Fruit bats are common carriers and humans can become infected
through bat contaminated fruits.
Some of the symptoms of Nipah virus include the initial
symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and sore throat.
The severe symptoms include dizziness, drowsiness and acute respiratory infection.
Advanced symptoms include encephalitis, that is the inflammation of the
brain that can lead to seizures, coma and even death.
Kerala first encountered the Nipah virus in 2018.
It began when Kozhikode Hospital identified unusual symptoms in a
22 year old patient, Mohammed Sali.
After sending samples to the Virology Institute in Pune, the
presence of the Nipah virus was confirmed.
This marked the start of a troubling.
With more cases emerging soon after.
The health mission led by then Health Minister KK Shailaja
acted swiftly by forming A-Team to trace contacts and manage
the outbreak.
By the end of the initial outbreak, 18 cases were
confirmed with 16 fatalities.
Despite these efforts, Kerala faced further outbreaks in 2019, 2021
and 2023, demonstrating the viruses persistence in the region.
Now one may ask why Kerala states like W Bengal
and Assam have also been affected.
Experts say the high density of fruit baths in Kerala
and the consumption of fresh toddy increase the infection risk.
Kerala's effective healthcare and monitoring systems also facilitate rapid case
detection, unlike in other states where the virus might go
unrecorded.
Doctor KP Aravindan, a public health activist, says the symptoms
are common to other viral infections.
People might not seek medical help for such symptoms.
In the absence of an effective health surveillance systems, it
is hard to detect virus.
It might be happening in other states too but goes
unrecorded.
Here's how the effective healthcare system in the state helped
to contain the outbreak.
Before the rest of the country learned about quarantine, isolation,
contact tracing and lockdown, Kerala had already experienced the social
impact of a fatal virus outbreak and became familiar with
these terms.
People were asked to wear masks in public places.
An exhaustive list of not less than 2500 people was
prepared and kept under monitoring.
Kerala's effective management of the outbreak was widely appreciated by
WHO.
Currently, the center has rushed A1 Health Outbreak Response Team
to investigate the case and provide technical assistance to the
state.
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