India News | Nipah Alert Sounded in Kerala's Kozhikode After 2 'unnatural' Deaths

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 (PTI) The Kerala Health Department sounded a health alert in Kozhikode district on Monday following two "unnatural" deaths suspected to be due to the Nipah virus infection.

State Health Minister Veena George held a high-level meeting and reviewed the situation, the health department said in a statement on Monday night.

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It said two "unnatural" deaths following fever were reported from a private hospital, and it is suspected that these were due to the Nipah virus.

Relatives of one of the deceased are also admitted to the intensive care unit, it said.

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Deaths due to Nipah virus infection were reported in Kozhikode district in 2018 and 2021.

The first Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak in south India was reported from Kozhikode on May 19, 2018.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person.

Among infected people, it causes a range of illnesses, from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.

The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers, WHO said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)