Necessary steps taken to prevent Nipah in Puducherry: Dr KV Raman

Necessary steps have been taken to prevent the spread of Nipah in Puducherry, Dr KV Raman, Director of Department of Health and Family Welfare Service, said on Wednesday.

Speaking to ANI, Raman said: "We are connected to Kerala as one of our regions -- Mahe -- is in Kerala. There was a lone case of Nipah in Ernakulam in Kerala. We are asking people to come to hospitals as soon as they experience fever, especially when a patient is delirious or have mental disorientation with a high fever."

He further said that doctors in the Union Territory are trained to detect patients with brain fever, and cough. "We have constituted isolation wards in hospitals in Mahe and other places. All the equipment for the personal protection of the staff, attending these patients, are ready," he further said.

Those who have visited Ernakulam and four districts around it must remain alert of any such symptoms, he added.

Nipah virus is transmitted from animals to humans and then spreads through people to people contact, causing respiratory illness. Its symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, fever, dizziness and nausea.

On June 4, a 23-old-man had tested positive for Nipah virus infection, which killed 17 people in Kerala last year.

As of now, a total of 15 people are under observation in the state.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan had on June 4 said that the Centre had rushed a team of doctors to Kerala for investigation in the wake of the scare of Nipah virus.