Thiruvananthapuram: A 24-year-old health worker who came into close contact with a Nipah patient tested positive this week taking the total number of positive cases in the state to five. As the state government has announced containment zones and restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, the contact list of the patients has become a reason for worry as 700 people have come into contact with the patients.
Out of these 700, about 77 are in the high-risk category, Kerala health minister Veena George said. The high-risk Nipah patients have been asked to remain inside their houses. The routes of the two Nipah patients who died have been published so that people don’t take those routes. In Kozhikode, restrictions have been imposed banning the gathering of a large number of people at festivals, and functions.
The Nipah strain found in Kerala this time is the Bangladesh variant which is less infectious but has a high mortality rate. This strain spreads from human to human. It is a zoonotic virus that can be transmitted from infected animals or contaminated food to humans.
