The deadly Nipah virus that has claimed over 13 lives in Kerala in the last few days seems to have spread to the neighbouring Karnataka. Two suspected cases of Nipah virus infection have been reported from Mangaluru and Kasargod in Karnataka.
The outbreak is likely to hit tourism industry in the State as well as Bahrain has issued a travel advisory asking its citizens to avoid visiting the Southern States while the UAE to urging its citizens in India to exercise caution and abide by the instructions of the local authorities.
The Piniyari Government too has asked travellers to avoid visiting four northern districts Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur, in Kerala, even as the Union Health Ministry has said that the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala is a localised occurrence and there is no threat of its spread,
According to reports, one patient is a 20-year-old woman from Kasargod and the other patient is a 75-year-old man from Mangaluru in Karnataka. It is suspected that the woman probably could have been exposed to the virus when she had visited the Perambra hospital in Kozhikode district of Kerala where a nurse was undergoing treatment for Nipah virus infection.
The woman had been in close contact with the nurse. The nurse named lini succumbed to the infection on Monday.
However, the 75-year-old man has no history of travel.
Samples from both the patients have been sent to the Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR), Manipal. The samples will be sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune if the results from MCVR turn positive for Nipah Virus.
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry Governments have said that there is no need to panic in these States, but officials have been asked to be on alert in case of any suspected outbreak. Meanwhile, the central team has devised draft guidelines, case definitions, advisory for healthcare workers, information to the general public, advisories for sample collection and transportation and a brief on Nipah virus disease.
In an advisory issued by Kerala Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, it was stated that travelling to any part of Kerala was safe. But if travellers wished to be extra cautious, they may avoid the four districts — Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur, it said.
The UAE too has urged its citizens in India to exercise caution and abide by the instructions of Indian authorities following the outbreak of the Nipah virus in Kerala while Bahrain has issued a travel advisory
It has asked its nationals to avoid travelling to Kerala until an outbreak of the rare Nipah virus is under control, the Gulf state's consulate in Mumbai said on its Twitter account on Wednesday.
The virus can cause flu-like symptoms and brain damage, and the outbreak has already killed 10 people in southern India, with at least nine more being treated, officials said.
There is no vaccine for the Nipah virus, carried by fruit bats and spread through contact with bodily fluids, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. Treatment for the virus, which has a mortality rate of about 70 per cent, is supportive care.