No new Nipah cases in Kerala: Health Minister

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Sunday said no new case of Nipah virus infection has been reported in Kerala and informed that the clinical condition of the patient suffering from the disease, the only case this year, is improving.
A case of Nipah was reported from Kerala’s Ernakulum district on June 3 and the condition of the infected college student is improving, Vardhan said.
The Nipah virus had claimed 17 lives in the state in May last year.
As on Sunday, blood and serum samples of all seven suspected patients who were admitted at a quarantine facility at the Government Medical College in Kerala’s Ernakulam district have tested negative for the virus, while the sample from the eighth patient is being tested, the minister said.
On Saturday, four patients from the isolation unit were discharged as their clinical condition improved.
According to the World Health Organisation, Nipah virus infection is a newly emerging disease that can be transmitted from its reservoir (natural wildlife host), the flying foxes (fruit bats), to both animals and humans. (PTI)