UAE issues Kerala travel warning over Nipah virus
Abu Dhabi, May 25 : The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has asked people to put off unnecessary travel to Kerala where a Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak has claimed 10 lives and at least 40 others have been quarantined.
"The Mohap alerts the people travelling to Kerala to be aware of contracting the infection and advises them to postpone unnecessary travel till the situation is controlled," the Khaleej Times quoted a Ministry statement as saying on Thursday.
"The Ministry works with its strategic partners to assess the risk of importation of Nipah cases to the country and put the necessary control measures. Also, Mohap is in continuous coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to implement the global recommendations," it added. Dubai-based Emirates airlines said that they were monitoring the situation closely.
"With regards to preventive or other measures, we will take guidance from the WHO and other international bodies. At this time, there are no recommended actions for airlines," it said.
The WHO has not issued any specific advice to countries that have not been affected by the Nipah but has asked them to enhance the level of preparedness.
Among the advisories given, the world body has advised countries to enhance surveillance at healthcare facilities including at points of entry and give case definitions among healthcare workers.
It said that Nipah symptoms are not specific and include flu-like illness and hence can be confused with any respiratory illness.
Nipah was first detected in Malaysia in 1998, followed by Bangladesh in 2001 and annual outbreaks have occurred in that country since, with the disease also occurring periodically in eastern India, making it the third country. The fourth country reporting Nipah virus infection is the Philippines.
The natural host of the virus are fruit bats. Human infections can result from contacts with infected pigs. Also, humans become infected with Nipah as a result of consuming food products contaminated by secretions of infected fruit bats.
Human-to-human transmission has also been documented.
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Badminton coach arrested for raping 16-year-old girl in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Apr 07 (PTI): A badminton coach was arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl who was taking training from him, police said on Monday.
The matter came to light after the girl's grandmother found that the minor had sent some of her nude pictures from her (grandmother's) phone to an unknown number and she immediately alerted her parents, they said.
When confronted by her mother, the girl revealed that the coach had sexually abused her on multiple occasions under the guise of giving her additional training sessions and warned her against disclosing about it to anyone, police said.
According to the police, the victim's mother in a complaint stated that their daughter enrolled for badminton coaching at a sports centre here two years ago. The coach allegedly sexually abused and harassed her on multiple occasions. He even took her to his house where he sexually assaulted her.
After her class 10 exam, she went to her grandmother's house and that on March 30 she sent her nude photos from her grandmother's mobile phone to the coach on his insistence, the complainant alleged.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered against the coach, a native of Tamil Nadu, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and he was arrested in the case on Thursday, a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, the accused confessed that he had sexually abused the girl on multiple occasions and that he had taken her nude photos which were also found on his phone. Nude photos of other girls were also found on his phone, the officer said.
