Kerala Health Minister Veena George provided an update on the Nipah Virus situation, assuring the public that the state has a handle on the situation. Currently, there are six confirmed positive cases, but the latest round of sample testing has yielded negative results. The health authorities have been diligently identifying and tracking potential contacts to prevent further spread.
In a revelation that sheds light on the origins of the Nipah Virus strain in Kerala, Minister Veena George mentioned that the source can be traced back to Bangladesh and Malaysia. She highlighted that Kerala is among the nine Indian states where there is a heightened risk of Nipah occurrences. These findings were the result of comprehensive studies conducted by both the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Furthermore, Minister Veena George explained that following the Nipah outbreak in 2018, rigorous surveillance was implemented. This surveillance revealed that bats were the carriers of the virus responsible for infections in Kerala. The strain found in Kerala has been identified as the Indian Genotype (I Genotype), which bears similarities to the strains found in Bangladesh. Notably, there are two distinct strains of the Nipah Virus present in the state – one originating from Malaysia and the other from Bangladesh. This insight into the virus's genetic makeup is invaluable for ongoing research and containment efforts.
