14-year-old boy who tested +ve for Nipah dies in Kerala

A 14-year-old boy from Kerala’s Malappuram district who had tested positive for Nipah infection died while undergoing treatment at Kozhikode govt medical college even as the state govt has intensified preventive measures like contact tracing. This is the first Nipah fatality in Kerala this year.
The Union health ministry said in a statement that Centre will deploy a multi-member joint outbreak response team to support Kerala in investigating the case, identifying epidemiological linkages and providing technical assistance. The ministry said the boy had exhibited acute encephalitis syndrome and was admitted to a healthcare facility in Perinthalmanna before being transferred to Kozhikode hospital.
The boy’s samples had tested positive for the Nipah virus at NIV Pune. Kerala health minister Veena George, who is camping in Malappuram to oversee the preventive measures, said he had been unconscious and on ventilator support. He suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died.
She said the authorities have so far identified 330 contacts of the boy and 101 of them have been classified as high-risk. As many as 68 of the contacts are health workers. Six of the contacts are under observation at the Manjeri govt medical college and one person is admitted at the Kozhikode govt medical college. George said that seven samples were tested, including six high risk contacts, and all tested negative.
"We will continue the process of testing the high risk contacts of the boy and will also closely check the contact list once again to ensure that no one is left out from the contact list," she said, adding that no person from the boy’s family have any Nipah symptoms.