Two more people died in Kerala’s Kozhikode district on Wednesday after being infected by the Nipah virus, taking the toll to 16, reports said. Another person also tested positive for the virus, the Hindustan Times reported.
Madusudhanan, 56, and Akihil Karasserry, 28, died at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on Wednesday night. Initially, both showed signs of recovery, but their condition then deteriorated, an unidentified official at the hospital said.
Kerala Health Director RL Saritha said the state has not received any information about the death of an army man who is suspected to have died of a Nipah infection in Kolkata earlier this week. Saritha said the contact list of those under observation has now been widened to 1,353 people, The Hindu reported. She said nine people are under surveillance at the Kozhikode hospital.
The virus can be transferred from animals to humans. It causes fever and cold-like symptoms, before quickly advancing to encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, and myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart. There is no vaccine or cure for Nipah infection at present.