TN steps up fever surveillance after virus deaths in Kerala

Asserting that there was no need to panic, state Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said districts neighbouring Kerala (Coimbatore, Nilgris and Kanyakumari) have been asked to be extra-careful and step-up 'fever surveillance.'

"We are continuously monitoring the incidence of fever.

We are seeing if there is any unusual increase in complaints of fever anywhere in the state and there is no such thing now," he told reporters.

Tamil Nadu health authorities were in touch with their Kerala counterparts, he said, adding "there is no need to panic. The health department, along with other departments like the animal husbandry, is closely monitoring the situation."

The natural host of the virus, fruit bats, are not expected to fly so long from the region suspected to be infected in Kerala, to Tamil Nadu, he said.

"Still we are monitoring" (the situation), Kanyakumari District Collector Prashant M Wadnere told reporters that fever surveillance has been intensified and appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours.

The health department in Kerala is on high alert after the deaths of three people of a family in the past two weeks.

A team from National Centre for Disease Control, led by its Director Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh and Head of Epidemiology, Dr S K Jain is presently in Kerala to take stock of the situation on instructions yesterday from Union Minister JP Nadda.

According to the World Health Organisaton, Nipah (NiV) infection in humans has a range of clinical presentations, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory syndrome and fatal encephalitis.

NiV is also capable of causing disease in pigs and other domestic animals and there is no vaccine for either humans or animals, according to the health body.