With the highly-fatal Nipah virus claiming two lives and infecting two others in Kerala’s Kozhikode district, a special team from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has reached Kozhikode on Wednesday.

A mobile-testing team from the Pune Institute of Virology and a team consisting of infectious disease prevention experts will also reach Kozhikode. They will work in coordination with the state Health Department officials.

An expert team appointed by the Central government will monitor the situation arising from the outbreak in Kerala’s Kozhikode. Further interventions will be made on the basis of reports given by a team consisting of expert doctors from Ministry of Health.

Nipah virus infection has been confirmed again in  Kerala on Tuesday. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavya  on Tuesday  said in New Delhi that two people who died of fever  in Kerala’s  Kozhikode have been tested for Nipah at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George confirmed on Tuesday that four people in the state had contracted the Nipah virus. Of them, two are under treatment, and two have succumbed to the disease.

Meanwhile, two health workers at a private hospital in Kozhikode have shown symptoms of Nipah virus infection. They were put under observation and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

The  Kozhikode district Collector on Wednesday declared o 43 containment zones after revealing that at least 702 persons are in the contact list of Nipah patients in the district. Entry and exit will be restricted to these containment zones.

Meanwhile, the test results of three people undergoing treatment for Nipah symptoms were found to be negative. The test was conducted at the VRDL Lab of Kozhikode Medical College. Their samples will not be sent to Pune as the preliminary test results are negative.

A 49-year-old man from Maruthonkara near Perambra and a 40-year-old man from Ayancheri near Vatakara died of Nipah symptoms on 30 August and 11 September respectively  at a private hospital in Kozhikode.

Amid the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode, a BDS student is under observation following a fever at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. However, authorities informed that there is no cause for concern. The patient, who has a fever, is being monitored in a specially set-up facility of the hospital at the moment.

The Kerala government on Tuesday set up a control room in Kozhikode and advised people to use masks as a precautionary measure.

The virus had struck Kozhikode in 2018 and 2021. Out of 18 laboratory-confirmed cases, 17 deaths were registered by 1 June 2018.