Coordinated and strong public health measures have been launched at Kozhikode where the Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak has been reported for the second time, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
In a statement here, Mr. Vijayand said that the Health Department had formulated a clear action plan for containing the outbreak and that 16 technical committees had been set up to coordinate each aspect of the action plan, including contact tracing, community surveillance and data analysis.
All activities are being supervised by Health Minister Veena George and three other members of the Cabinet. Mr. Vijayan said that facilities had been made for the diagnosis of NiV in Kozhikode Government Medical College itself. Point-of-care testing facilities were being arranged at Kozhikode MCH with the help of National Institute of Virology, Pune. The samples thus confirmed would be sent for re-confirmation to NIV Pune. The results could be obtained within 12 hours, he said.
The pay ward block at Kozhikode MCH had been prepared for Nipah isolation and treatment. Negative pressure ICU had been readied for Nipah patients, the CM said. A contact list of 188 persons had been prepared, of whom 20 were identified as high risk contacts. The high risk contacts had been moved to the isolation ward. Route map of the Nipah index case—the 12-year-old who succumbed to the infection—had been prepared and published.
Mr. Vijayan said that the availability of medicines for supportive care as well as personal protection equipment had been readied in adequate quantities. He said that the ICMR had also promised to reach the human monoclonal antibody m102.4 from Australia within a week
Intensive efforts were also on to find the source of the current NiV outbreak. The Health Department had called a meeting of all private hospitals also and alerted them to report all cases of unusual fever and unusual deaths without delay. Mr. Vijayan said that special arrangements were made for data mining and management.
Published - September 05, 2021 09:41 pm IST
