Death of Malappuram girl confirmed as Nipah, Palakkad reports new case
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5 (PTI): The recent death of an 18-year-old girl in Kerala's Malappuram district was confirmed as Nipah infection, health department sources here said on Saturday.
The patient, hailing from Chettiyarangadi in Malappuram, had succumbed after receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode district.
Initial tests indicated Nipah and the infection was subsequently confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune after sample examination, the sources said.
A 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad district also tested positive for Nipah, prompting the authorities on Friday to issue a strong warning to the public and health workers to remain extremely vigilant.
In view of the Nipah case reported in the district, health authorities in Malappuram initiated surveillance in 20 wards in panchayats like Makkaraparamba, Kuruva, Kootilangadi, and Mankada, an official statement said here on Saturday.
The objective was to identify the source of the disease and strengthen household-based awareness, it said.
A total of 65 teams visited 1,655 houses and found no one with symptoms of Nipah during the survey, the statement added.
State Health Minister Veena George held a high-level meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to review the situation.
She informed that 425 people are on the Nipah contact list, with 228 in Malappuram, 110 in Palakkad, and 87 in Kozhikode.
Of them, five people are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and the test result of another person in the contact list turned negative for the infection, the minister's office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry is considering deploying the National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Kerala to assist the state government in implementing public health measures, following the detection of two Nipah virus cases, sources said in New Delhi.
The Central Surveillance Unit of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC, is in close contact with the state unit and is actively monitoring the situation.
The State Control Room has been activated for coordinating the various containment activities.
The public health response is guided by the Kerala State NiVD guidelines for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control.
"Although prima facie, the two cases are epidemiologically unlinked, the timelines of symptom onset and the possibility of a common social event connecting the two are being investigated," a source said.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
