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INDIA-NIPAH-DEATH
India Nipah virus outbreak death toll rises to 14
NEW DELHI, May 28, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – The death toll in Nipah virus
outbreak in India has risen to 14, with the death of one patient in the
southern state of Kerala, officials said Monday.
“The latest victim was a 26-year-old man who died late Sunday evening
while under treatment since last week at a private hospital in the state’s
Kozhikode district, the epicentre of the Nipah virus outbreak,” a senior
health official said.
Apart from the 14 deaths in Kerala’s Kozhikode and Mallapuram districts,
some 94 people have been quarantined in their homes while 17 others are under
treatment in hospitals.
“All steps to prevent the spread of the virus have been taken,” state
Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said.
The Indian Health Ministry recently claimed to have contained the virus.
“It was a highly localized infection and we have been able to contain it
well,” Indian Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said.
Health officials have identified the bat-infested well in the house in
Kozhikode district as the likely epicentre of the outbreak of Nipah virus in
this country.
This is the third outbreak of Nipah virus in India. Two other outbreaks of
the virus were reported in 2001 and 2007, respectively, in eastern state of
West Bengal that shares its border with Bangladesh, claiming 50 lives.
Nipah virus is an emerging infectious disease that first broke out in a
Malaysian village in 1999. Health experts say there is no vaccine for the
virus that causes fever and breathlessness in affected patients as initial
symptoms, and only intensive care can help.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1158 hrs