A 14-year-old child died of the Nipah virus, and health officials in Kerala, India have issued an alert.
According to the country’s health minister, an extra 60 individuals have been identified as being in the high-risk class of having the disorder.
Veena George, the health minister of Kerala, claimed the boy was from the city of Pandikkad and that those who had gotten in contact with him had been isolated and tested.
People in the area have been instructed to wear masks in open spaces and avoid visiting medical patients.
According to the World Health Organization ( WHO ), the Nipah virus infection is a “zoonotic illness” that can be contracted from animals like pigs and fruit bats to people.
It can also spread through contaminated foods and physical contact with an infected individual.
Because it has the potential to cause an incident, the WHO has labeled the disease as a priority pathogen.
Since Kerala state was the first position to report the disease in 2018, dozens of deaths have been linked to it.
The 14-year-old died on Sunday, only a moment after he was confirmed to have the disease, according to American media accounts.
It can also spread through contaminated foods and physical contact with an infected individual.
Parts of Kerala are said to be the most at-risk globally for the virus. An investigation published by Reuters last year found that Kerala, which is a tropical state and is witnessing rapid urbanisation and rapid tree loss, created “ideal conditions for a virus like Nipah to emerge”.
According to experts, pets are living closer to humans because of biodiversity damage, which allows the virus to spread from animals to humans.
The state authorities just announced that an action plan would be developed to stop a Nipah pandemic.
Last year, authorities in Kerala state closed schools and offices after confirming five cases.