Nipah: Karnataka Health Department issues advisory

‘Avoid eating cut fruits, unprocessed dry fruits to stay safe’

Amidst rising concerns about the ‘Nipah virus’ (NiV) following an outbreak in Kerala, the State Health and Family Welfare Department has issued a list of precautionary measures for the public, which includes avoiding cut fruits sold on the roadside, unprocessed dry fruits or unprocessed date palm juice.

The advisory also recommends avoiding drinking toddy/neera, consuming fruits bitten by birds and animals, fruits that have fallen from trees, coming in contact with infected pigs, and rubbing eyes with unclean hands. It also suggests keeping wells covered with a mesh to prevent entry of bats, and boiling water from the well before drinking it.

Some of the common symptoms are fever, headache, vomiting, dizziness, disorientation and convulsions. The disease spreads from infected fruit bats to animals, animals to animals or bats to humans, the advisory states.

Director of Health and Family Welfare Services Dr. P.L. Nataraj said one need not worry about consuming whole fruit bought from shops. However, cut fruits by the roadside and date palms needed to be avoided, he said.

Officials said all the districts neighbouring Kerala have been kept on high alert, with active surveillance on the epidemic.

The Joint Director of the Health and Family Welfare Department has asked all the officials concerned to conduct an interdepartmental coordination meeting under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner of each district.