Dr Pawar said that under the guidance of Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, high-level teams from the Centre and ICMR-NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories have already reached Kozhikode and will be doing on-ground testing

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar reviewed steps taken for containment of Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, Kerala, from the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), in Pune on Thursday. 

After undertaking the review, Dr Pawar stated that “The Govt. of India under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and under the guidance of Hon’ble Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya is monitoring the situation and necessary steps for prevention of spread are being taken”. 

Dr Pawar said that under the guidance of Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, high-level teams from the Centre and ICMR-NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories have already reached Kozhikode and will be doing on-ground testing.  

She also declared that the affected gram panchayats in the Kozhikode area have been declared as quarantine zones. A multi-disciplinary team led by Dr Mala Chhabra has been deputed by Union Health Ministry to support the state in public health measures to deal with this outbreak.

The Union Minister assured that that the Union Health Ministry and the ICMR-NIV is monitoring the issue on a daily basis and all possible arrangements are being made by the central government to deal with the viral outbreak.

In total five cases of the Nipah Virus have been detected in Kerala with 706 contacts currently being monitored and 77 being in the high-risk category while 153 are health workers.