Return of dreaded

Suleman, a headload worker from Valenchry, had never remembered the Labor Day celebrations in 20 years. But this May day was different.

Instead of joining his colleagues, Suleman took his 42 -year -old wife to clinics and hospitals, with each passing moment to her health stumbled. By midnight, she was severely ill in the emergency wing of the EMS Memorial Cooperative Hospital in Perntlaman.

In the early hours of May 2, in the sterile silence of the intensive care unit (ICU), she slipped into a coma. The world of her loved ones started shrinking for a terrible reality as Suleman and three of her children were waiting for frozen concern.

His house in Thaniappankunu in the Valenchri municipality was still silent, its doors were closed since that terrible day. In Portico, two plastic chairs were dusty and abandoned. The washed clothes gently fluttered on a cloth line under a turpulin, while Suleman’s protagonist became useless behind the bike. The 15-percent complex remained untouched. The closed house and its terrible campus provided a poignant reminder of life.

The nine wards within the three -kilometer radius of their house included the areas of the Welchri municipality and the neighboring panchayats of the Marak, EDUR and Athavand, on 8 May, the day the woman conducted a positive test for the deadly Nipah virus.

The state health department took action with the minister for health, who went to Malappuram to formally announce the confirmation of the Nipah case.

Three cases in 10 months

Within 10 months since July last year, Malappuram reported three Nipah cases. In July last year, a 14 -year -old school student succumbed to Neipshri in Cambrasari near Pandikkad, near Pandikakad, near Pandikakad, followed by a 24 -year -old Naduwath’s 24 -year -old man in September. The latest Nipah patient, Valenchry woman, fights for her life in ICU, in which encephalitis submerged her into a coma.

“We are all praying to her to come back,” of her neighbor. Balakrishna and his wife are called Savithri. He appeared unaffected by Nipah. So t. Bindu was another neighbor. “This can affect anyone; it is just to him,” Balakrishna and Savithri combine with a shrug.

He had not interacted with the woman since he fell ill with fever and headache on 25 April. “We can get closer, but we don’t do as we used to do. We will chat with trees and thunderstorms of our homes,” Savithri explains.

Deepening mystery

The secret to the woman’s Nipah infection deepens as a report of her neighbors that she rarely came out and mostly lived inside the house. “Whenever she went out, she would be with her husband on her bike,” he remembers Balakrishna. The source of his infection is unknown.

“In the days before we fall ill, he says his brothers and sisters in Thiruvegpura in Palakkad district, where he exchanged fruits with them,” says as a municipal councilor representing Thaniappankunu ward.

He has been at the forefront of helping health and animal husbandry officers who conducted survey in the area, and to spread awareness about health protocols, including separation, and to take precautions against the spread of virus.

“The mask should be one when we are among the people. Be sure to be better safe,” Veerankutty, warns a small group of youth in Thaniappankunu, reminds them of the importance of following the guidelines issued by health workers and taking the necessary forecasts.

The Nipah-affected woman’s house premises and surroundings were the best Malappuram with juicy trees of various sizes in the area in the area. Mango, jackfruit, papaya, guava, and Bilambi were fruit trees. A small Bilambi tree laden with fruit was standing in the front corner of his house. At the back, an unused one acre plot belonging to another joint family offered a true feast, which flowed with mangoes and jackfruits, which possibly attracts fruit bats in the area.

District Monitoring Officer, Malappuram c. “We insist on a bat cutting fruit as a source of his transition,” says Shubin, but without evidence, it is difficult to ask to make sure. “

District Medical Officer R. Renuka and his team supported by Dr. Shubin has played an important role in locating three Nipa cases in Malappuram in the last 10 months. Dr. Renuka warned, “We should be ready for further matters.”

Dr. Renuka and the team had issued a pre-probation warning against possible outbreaks of deadly diseases like Nipah before summer. He had advised people against consuming fallen fruits, especially cuts by birds and bats. People were also warned to maintain strict hygiene while dealing with domestic animals.

Monitoring some diseases, especially encephalitic cases, have been ramped in Malappuram since 2022. Apart from government hospitals, the major tertiary hospitals of the district have also been trained to deal with encephalitic matters, especially keeping in mind the Neepah Risk.

Nipa infection often progresses for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) after initial symptoms such as fever, headache and vomiting. Monitoring AES cases helps detect initial warning signals of a outbreak to enable timely treatment and intervention according to medical experts.

“We identified all the three Nipah cases reported in Malappuram since last year through this surveillance. No AE or Acute Respiratory Risk Syndrome (ARDS) case can not be unrestricted under the current monitoring system, whether it is in private or government hospitals,” Dr. Shabin says. “Our private hospitals are cooperative in reporting immediate reports,” he said.

Malappuram’s major tertiary private hospitals have been equipped with ICU isolation facilities, enableing them to effectively manage viral outbreaks such as nipples. “Handling a Nipa suspect is no longer a cause for concern,” claims Shubin.

Extended monitoring

Experts take precautions that eliminating Nipah can be impossible due to outbreak due to the complexity of factors. However, increased monitoring of AES cases can facilitate initial detection of contacts and rapid separation, potentially to prevent transmission, they say.

Research has identified fruit bats, especially Peropus species or flying foxes, as natural reservoirs of the nippa virus. While the accurate transmission route for humans is unclear, it is suspected that the contaminated fruit, cut or licked by bats, can play a role in spreading the virus. The possibility of a mediated host convenient transmission is still being investigated.

Assistant Professor at Kerala Agricultural University, Bat Researcher Srihari Raman, who identified six fruit -eating bats out of the 48 bat varieties found in Kerala, says that the bats can act as ectoparasite vectors living on the body of bats. Srihari says, “It is a possibility in addition to transmission through fruits cut by bats.”

Another possible transmission route is through consumption of bats, with some indigenous tribes still seen in Kerala. He says, “I faced many people who ate bats during my research, but this practice has reduced after Nipah’s outbreak and awareness campaigns,” they say.

Some unusual observation

Their encounters with bats have made unusual observations such as bats eat fruits stored in shops. He said, “I caught footage of bats on a banana in a fruit shop.

Human activities such as urbanization and deforestation are considered a major cause of virus spillover. According to studies, removing bats by destroying roasting trees can cause changes in their habits. Srihari says, “The viral load seems to be the most during the breeding season. But it should be studied to say something.”

According to health officials, a two-dimensional approach is required to prevent the spread of the bat virus: Swift outbreak reaction and vigilance bait monitoring of population. The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported a health approach to integrate human, animal and environmental health as part of controlling zunotic diseases such as Nipa. Health Minister Veena George says, “It promotes a balanced relationship between humans, animals and nature.”

Cats died, foul

In Valenchry, animal husbandry officials surveyed Nipah Drive by surveying within a 500 -meter radius of Nipa patient’s house. They collected animal samples to detect antibodies. Recent deaths of cats and foul in the region are still a cause of concern amidst intensive monitoring of fever by health officials.

The District Program Manager of the National Health Mission TN Anoop says, “We are investigating a joint area as part of a health concept. If the virus is quickly detected in animals, the spread can be easily contained,” says TN Anoop, District Program Manager of National Health Mission.

Research by National Institute of Virology of Indian Council for Medical Research, Pune, Nipa antibodies were found in bats in 10 states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. However, Kerala, especially Malabar, often reports outbreaks of Nipah, increase curiosity about the underlying causes of this regional concentration.

According to Anoop Kumar, important care specialists who first identified the deadly virus for nipples in Kerala in 2018 may be undesirable in other states due to limited testing. Kerala’s frequent Nipah cases may be caused by the state’s increased vigilance and regular screening, they feel.

Viral limit

The high mortality rate of Nipah virus (70% and above) makes it a significant concern. Check whether the current stress retains the same virus such as the outbreak of 2018 is important to understand the potential severity of outbreak and guide public health reactions. “I think it is less viral now. That is why the rate of secondary infection in the latest incident is reduced,” Mohammad Ismail, says former District Medical Officer.

But Dr. Anoop disagree. “We have a solid monitoring system and a clear action plan. Until the study proves it, we cannot say that the virus has lost its virus,” they say.

As Suleman and her children are changing through the ICU of the hospital throughout the day, the day they are expecting their initial return in normal life, medical experts are working overtime to help fight the crisis. The villagers are also keeping him in their prayers so that he can return it to a healthy life.