Authorities in India’s southern state of Kerala on Sunday intensified surveillance measures to contain the spread of Nipah infections, officials said.
Although no new cases have been detected, the health workers have extended door-to-door surveys to over 22,200 houses in the Kozhikode district.
So far, six cases have been identified, of which four are active while the remaining two died.
“The number of persons included in the contact list of Nipah patients in Kozhikode district has swelled to 1,777,” an official said. “However, no fresh Nipah-positive cases were reported in the district.”
Officials said police have registered two cases for violating Nipah protocols.
According to WHO, Nipah virus infection is a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural hosts of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus.
Typically, the human infection presents as an encephalitic syndrome marked by fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation, mental confusion and coma, which can potentially lead to death.
