Nipah Virus: Odisha Govt Alerts Hospitals, Medical Colleges

Bhubaneswar: Taking note of the recent outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in Kerala resulting in the death of at least 10 persons, the Odisha government has asked the authorities of five medical college and hospitals and 30 district headquarters hospitals to remain alert and take immediate measures if any such case comes to their notice.

Director, Health Services, Braja Kishore Brahma informed that the Health department had written a letter to this effect to the authorities of these hospitals on May 22.

“We received a letter in this connection from the department on Wednesday. We will go through the letter and issue a directive soon,” he added.

He said there is no need to panic as so far no cases have been reported from any part of the state so far. However, people have been asked to take preventive measures against the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, authorities of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, are keeping things ready to deal with the situation. “We have not received any such cases so far. We have created a special ward to admit the patients afflicted with the virus,” Prof Bikas Bhatia, Dean, AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, told mediapersons.

According to Head of the Department of Horticulture, Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), Dillip Das, so far, there is no report of an outbreak in the state.

“Since Nipah virus spreads due to consumption of contaminated fruits (half-eaten fruits left by fruit bats), people should avoid these,” he pointed out.