Reportedly it was on June 2, a lazy Sunday that kerala heard the news this time that Nipah was suspected in a 23 year old youth. Meanwhile the youth, hailing from north Paravur, had been admitted at aster Medcity, a private hospital in Ernakulam, with fever on May 30. On June 4, health Minister kk Shailaja announced that Nipah was confirmed after samples from the youth were tested at the National Institute of Virology, Pune and the state health machinery almost immediately rose up to the occasion.
Furthermore the Nipah symptoms in the youth were more neurological and aster Medcity got samples tested at a private lab in Bengaluru, isolated the youth, and immediately informed the health department. Reports added Dr Kuttappan emphasises that the cooperation of the people on the contact list made things easier. He says “During surveillance days, as per our directions they did not step out of their homes without any complaints”.
Moreover the people in the contact list included those from Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kollam districts too. Dr V Meenakshy, additional director of public health, tells TNM If the results were positive, it would then be sent to NIV Pune for confirmation and if it was negative, the samples would be sent to Institute of Virology, Alappuzha for testing other viral parallels".
