Panic spread in Kozhikode and neighbouring districts as the confirmed death toll from Nipah fever reached 10 by Tuesday. Two other deaths are also suspected to have been caused by the Nipah virus, though the test results are yet to be confirmed.
Health Minister K.K. Shylaja, meanwhile, told reporters that Nipah virus was detected in 12 people, of which 10 have already died, and two others are currently under observation.
Amidst the deaths and spike in fever cases in the area, the absence of the Prevention of Epidemics and Infectious Diseases (PEID) Cell in the affected areas of Perambra has sparked criticism. However, the head of the department of community medicine at Government Medical College Hospital, Thomas Bina, who also heads the district medical team, told Onmanorama that in an emergency situation, their priority is to abate the panic among patients and their bystanders, and spread awareness about the disease.
The state-level PEID team is yet to arrive in Perambra to take firsthand account of the situation. A team of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) of the Union ministry of health and family welfare inspected the affected area on Monday. More experts from animal husbandry and neurology are expected to visit on Tuesday.
Three of a family in Changaroth, Perambra, died after they contracted the Nipah virus. They were identified as Muhammed Salih, 26, and Muhammed Sabith, 24, sons of Sooppikkada Valachuketti Moosa. The third person who succumbed to the virus is Moosa’s sister-in-law Mariam, 50.
In Kozhikode district, five more deaths have been confirmed by the health officials as caused by the Nipah virus. The deceased have been identified as Kandithazhe Cheriya Parambil Janaki, 45; Kurathipara Puthusseri Lini, 31, the nurse who attended to the affected patients at Perambra; Madambally Meethal Rajan, 47, of Vattachira, Koorachund; Asokan, 52, of Ummathoor, Nadapuram; and Thiruvod Mayippil Ismail, 50, of Kottoor, Naduvannoor.
In Malappuram, deaths of Shijitha, 23, wife of Padikkal Ubeesh of Thirurangadi and Mecheri Sindhu, 36, of Thirurangadi were also confirmed to have been caused by Nipah fever.
Two other deaths in Malappuram are also under scanner as the deceased are suspected to have contracted the Nipah virus. However, the lab results to the same is yet to arrive so that officials can confirm the exact cause. These unconfirmed cases are: Muhammed Shibi, 14, son of Palayil Abdul Shukoor of Chattiparamba and Thazhathilthodi Velayudhan, alias Sundaran, 48, of Kolathur.