The 330 persons, who were directly or indirectly in contact with the sole Nipah patient of Kerala during the second emergence of the virus in the state, have been relieved after observation period got over.
Cutting down every possibility for the outbreak of Nipah, these persons were kept in home quarantine under the instruction of the Health department of Kerala. People whose observation period of 21 days got over were being relieved from their home quarantine. The last remaining 16 people in this regard were relieved from the list on Thursday.
Meanwhile, officials state that the condition of the Nipah patient is satisfactory. District Medical Officer of Ernakulam district visited the private hospital in Kochi where the 23-year-old patient is admitted. DMO Dr NK Kuttapan held a meeting with the hospital authorities to discuss the present condition and treatment given for the patient.
The 23-year-old student hailing from North Paravur municipality of Ernakulam district was confirmed to be affected by Nipah in the first week of June.
The health machinery, which at once became alert, avoided all possibilities for the Nipah virus to spread. As part of this, the process of preparing an observation list of people who had direct and indirect contact with the student, was started on June 3 and June 4. Within two days, all who had come in contact with the patient were traced and kept in home quarantine.
The officials also state that at every point of time, everyone who was under home quarantine cooperated with the instructions of the Health department.
The health machinery of Kerala which had the experience of handling the Nipah outbreak last year in the state, was able to curb Nipah this time around without even a single death and confining it to just one affected person. In the first Nipah outbreak in Kerala which happened last year, 17 people had lost their lives.