Finally, Nipah scare over in Kerala's Kozhikode

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 29 (IANS) With the last of the four patients finally testing double negative, the Nipah scare in Kerala's Kozhikode is finally over, state Health Minister Veena George said on Friday.

One of the patients to be discharged was a nine-year-old boy whose father had succumbed to the virus last month.

It was during the second week of September that the medical authorities in Kozhikode suspected an outbreak of Nipah after two patients died of the symptoms.

Following this, several areas of the district, especially where the suspected outbreak surfaced, was turned into a containment zone and for almost a week all educational institutions in the district went into online mode.

Kozhikode saw two Nipah deaths and six positive cases. Over 950 samples were sent for testing and since the end of last week, all the protocols were being lifted and finally the district is free from restrictions.

Meanwhile, National Institute of Virology officials from Pune are continuing their tests on samples collected from bats as they are yet to identify the cause of this latest outbreak.