Nipah infection: no official word on proposed bat surveillance in Kerala

Animal Husbandry Department yet to get any official directive

The Animal Husbandry Department is yet to get any official directive on the proposed surveillance of bats on river banks from Kasaragod to Ernakulam against the backdrop of recurring cases of Nipah infection in the state.

The infection was reported in Kerala thrice in two years since 2018. Kozhikode reported the first outbreak and a single case and a death occurred here in September this year too. Some of the victims in 2018 were from Malappuram district. In 2019, another single case was reported in Ernakulam district. Incidentally, it has been a month since Mohammed Hashim, the 12-year-old native of Pazhoor near Chathamangalam in the district, succumbed to the infection.

K.K. Baby, District Coordinator, Animal Disease Control Project Office, Kozhikode, said here on Tuesday that the periodic surveillance was supposed to be a joint exercise by the Veterinary, Forest, and Health departments. It was to determine the presence of the Nipah virus. The State Institute of Animal Diseases too was planned to be roped in. The proposal was moved by Health Minister Veena George. “There is no official word on the bat surveillance,” he added. The Health Department too does not seem to have any idea about it.