Relief again as five contacts test negative for Nipah virus, bats to be caught today

KOZHIKODE: The test results of five more people in Nipah contact list have turned negative, said Health Minister Veena George. Four of the samples were tested at NIV Pune and one in a specially set up lab at Kozhikode Medical College. With this, 73 samples have found to be negative, the minister said. Although no other Nipah case has been confirmed, the decision has been taken to maintain strict controls in Kozhikode.

Meantime, bats will be caught today as part of tests to find the source of the Nipah virus. The bats will be caught by forest officials in the presence of experts from the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The experts team had inspected the house of the boy who died of Nipah and the habitat of the bats yesterday. The team said as it is clear that bats have bit the arecanuts in the backyard, the team opined that it has to be tested whether the virus has spread from it. It has also been directed to stop grazing cattle and fishing near the rambutan tree as bats were widely seen there.