Sulaiman, a header of the Valancry head, never missed workers celebrations in more than 20 years. But this May was different.
Instead of joining his collaborators, Sulaiman rushed his 42 -year -old wife to clinics and hospitals, and her health stood at every passing moment. Until midnight, the EMS Memorial Cooperative Hospital in Perinthalmann was critically ill by midnight.
In the early hours of May 2, in the sterile silence of the intensive care unit (ICU), slipped into a coma. The world of her loved ones began to shrink into a terrifying reality when Sulaiman and their three children awaited frozen fears.
Their house in ThaniyAppanknu in Valalanchery Olcipa stood calm and quiet, his door locked up from that fateful day. Two plastic chairs dusty and abandoned sat in the porticic. The washed clothes gently flushed on the laundry cord under the sail, while Sulaiman’s heroes lay inactivity behind the houses. The compound of 15 cents remained intact. The locked house and its scary compound provided suspended comments from life.
Research has identified fruit bats as natural tanks of Nipah virus. | Photo Credit: Sakeer Hussain
The nine departments in the circle of three kilometers from its house, including the areas of the village of Valanchery and neighboring Panchayat from Marakkara, Edayur and Athavanad, were declared the detention zones on May 8, the day the woman was tested positively on the Nipah virus.
The State Health Department ran into an event with Minister for Health Veen George herself in Malappuram to formally announce the confirmation of the Nipah case.
Three cases in 10 months
Within 10 months of July last year Malappuram announced three Nipah cases. The red schoolboy succumbed to Nipahu in Chembrassery, near Pandikkad, in July last year, followed by the death of a 24 -year -old man from Naduvath near Wandoor in September. The Valelanchery Woman, the latest Nipah patient, fights for her life in the ICU, while encephalitis casts her into a coma.
“We all pray to return,” says her neighbors K. Balakrishn and his wife Savithri. Nipah seemed not to see. Likewise, T. Binda, another neighbor. “It can affect anyone; it has happened,” Balakrishna and Savithri with a shrug.
They did not interact with the woman because she fell fever and headache. “We can be close, but we do not visit as we used to. We talked from the boundaries of our homes lined with a tree,” Savithri explains.
Deepening of mystery
The secret surrounding the nipah female infection deepens when her neighbors say she rarely dared and mostly remained inside. “Whenever she came out, she would be on her bike with her husband,” Balakrishna says. The source of her infection remains unknown.
“We know that the days before the disease visited her siblings in Thiruvegapo in the Palakkad district, where she exchanged fruit with them,” says Parassery Veerankutty, a municipal councilor representing ThaniyAppunnunnunnu Ward.
He was at the forefront to help officials of health and animals who conducted surveys in this area and to extend the awareness of health protocols that need to be followed, including isolation, and preventive measures against the spread of virus.
“Masks are a necessity when we are among people. Be safe than sorry,” warns Veerankutty a small group of young people at ThaniyAppanknun, reminding them of the importance of adherence to the instructions issued by healthcare workers and receiving the required precipitation.
The ladies’ house affected by Nipah and its surroundings was a typical mappuram with fresh trees of various sizes prosperous in this area. There were Mango, Jackfruit, Papaya, Guava and Bilimbi Fruit Trees. In the right corner of her house stood a small bilimbi tree loaded with fruit. Unused Spik on one acre belonging to another common family offered a real feast, overflowing mangoes and jackfruits that probably attracted fruit bats to the area.
“We strongly suspect that as a source of her infection, fruit is bitten, but without evidence it is difficult to say with certainty,” says C. Shaubin, a district supervision officer, Malappuram.
Dr. SHUBIN, supported by the district physician R. Renuka and her team, has been helpful in the last 10 months to detect three Nipah cases in Malappuram. “We should be prepared for other cases,” warns Dr. Renuka.
Dr. Renuka and the team released a preventive warning against possible focusings of fatal diseases such as Nipah, before the peak of summer. They recommended people against the consumption of fallen fruit, especially those who bite birds and bats. People were also warned to maintain strict hygiene in dealing with pets.
Supervision of certain diseases, especially encephalitic cases, has grown in Malappuram since 2022. In addition to government hospitals, the main tertiary hospitals in the district were trained to deal with encephalitic cases, especially the risk of NIPAH.
NIPAH infection often initial acute encephalitis syndrome (AE) after initial symptoms such as fever, headache and vomiting. Monitoring of AES cases helps to detect early warning signs of focus, which, according to medical experts, allows timely treatment and interventions.
“We have found all three cases of NIPah reported in Malappuram since last year through this supervision. No AES or AS acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can be reported in the current monitoring system, whether in private or government hospitals,” SHUBIN. “Our private hospitals work immediately when reporting cases,” he adds.
The main tertiary private hospitals of Malappuram are equipped with ICU insulation devices, allowing them to efficiently control viral outbreaks such as Nipah. “Manipulation with a suspicious Nipah is no longer a reason for concern,” says Shaubin.
Increased supervision
Experts point out that the elimination of NIPah may be impossible due to the complexity of factors leading to the outbreak. However, increased supervision of AES cases can facilitate early detection and quick insulation of contacts, which will potentially prevent transmission, they say.
Research has identified fruit bats, specifically Pteropus species or flying foxes such as Nipah NPAH. While the exact transmission path to people remains unclear, it is assumed that contaminated fruit, bitten or licked by bats can play the role of contaminated fruit. The possibility of an intermediary host facilitating the transmission is still being examined.
The researcher of the bats of Sreehari Raman, a professional assistant at the University of Agricultural University in Kerala, who identified six bats that eats fruit among 48 varieties of bats found in Kerala, say ectoparasites living on the bodies of bat can function as vectors. “It is also the possibility of transmission by fruits bitten by bats,” says Sreehari.
Another potential transmission route is the consumption of bats, which is still observed between some indigenous tribes in Kerala. “I have met several individuals who ate bats during my research, but it seems that this practice has decreased after campaigns for the outbreak and awareness of Nipah,” he says.
Some unusual observations
His encounter with bats led to unusual observations, such as bats who eat fruit stored in stores. “I captured shots of bats that feed on bananas in a fruit store. After showing the video of the store owner, he immediately covered the potential entrance points through a large network to prevent further access to flying foxes,” he says.
Human activities such as urbanization and deforestation are suspicious for the main cause of spilling the virus. According to studies, bats can leave by destruction of roosting trees cause changes in their habits. “The viral burden seems to be the highest in the reproduction period.
According to medical officials, the prevention of spreading bats requires access with two spikes: a rapid response of the outbreak and vigilant monitoring of the bats of bats. The World Health Organization (WHO) supported the approach of one health to integrate human, animal and environmental health in the control of zoonotic diseases such as Nipah. “It supports a balanced relationship between people, animals and nature,” says Minister of Health Veena George.
The death of cats, poultry
In Valanchery, animal breeding officials joined the Anti-Nipah Drive by exploration within 500 meters from the Nipah house. They collected animal samples to detect antibodies. Recent deaths of cats and poultry in this area are still a reason for concerns in the middle of reinforced supervision of the fever of medical officials.
“We perform combined field investigations as part of One Health concept. If the virus is monitored at the beginning of the animals, the spread can be easily contained,” says TN ANOOP, district program manager of the national health mission.
Research of the Indian Council for Medical Research of the National Institute for Virology, Pune, found Nipah antibodies in bats in 10 countries, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. However, Kerala, especially Malabar, often reports Nipah outbreaks, which causes curiosity for the basic reasons for this regional concentration.
According to ANOOP KUMAR, a critical care specialist identified by a deadly virus when Nipah first broke out in Kerala in 2018, NIPAH cases in other countries may not be detected due to limited testing. Frequent cases of nipahu Kerala could be caused by increased vigil and routine screening of the state.
Extent of virulence
High mortality (70% and higher) Nipah virus makes it a significant problem. Examination of whether the current strain retains the same virulence as the focus 2018 is essential for understanding the potential severity of the focus and leading public health reactions. “I think it’s less virulent now. Therefore, the level of secondary infection has dropped in the last occurrence,” says Mohammed Ismail, a former representative of a district medical officer.
But Dr. ANOOP disagrees. “We have a solid supervision system and a clear action plan. If the study can’t, we can’t say that the virus has lost its virus,” he says.
Because Sulaiman and his children alternate outside the ICU hospitals all day in the hope that in her early return to normal life, medical experts work overtime to help her fight the crisis. The villagers also keep her in their prayers to see her returning to a healthy life.
Published – May 15, 2025 23:57 is
