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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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
