Nipah outbreak under control says, Kerala Health minister Veena George

The Kerala government has  said the Nipah outbreak in the state is under control as there were no new positive cases for the second consecutive day and that the already infected patients were getting better. No Nipah cases in Kerala as 61 test samples resulted in negative.State Health Minister Veena George said it was a big relief for the state that no new fresh positive cases of the virus have been detected. "The situation is under control presently," she said. George said the four infected people, including a nine-year-old boy, were getting better and the child has been taken off ventilator for the time being.

Speaking on the treatment using a monoclonal antibody, the only experimental therapeutic available to the government against the virus, the minister said the present variant was only 50-60 per cent effective and that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has assured that it will get a new and more efficient version.She also said that samples from 36 bats have been sent to Pune’s National Institute of Virology to ascertain the presence of the virus among the mammals.So far, 1,233 contacts have been traced and of them 352 are in the high-risk category, she said.The minister said that all the infected persons contracted the virus from the same person — the index case — who died on August 31, so it was clear that there was no second wave, calling the development a welcoming news.