Health Minister Veena George who reviewed the status of preventive measures initiated against Nipah virus infection here on Saturday said community-level surveillance would continue in Kozhikode district with the support of health workers.
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Addressing the media here, she made it clear that the One Health project — a multidisciplinary approach conceived by the World Health Organization to prevent, predict, and respond to health threats while balancing and optimising the health of people, animals, plants, and the shared environment — would be implemented in Kozhikode.
“A district-level committee to supervise the scheme will come into effect, and it will be chaired by the District Collector. Officials of various departments including Animal Husbandry, Forest, and Fisheries will be members of the committee,” said Ms. George. She affirmed that the State government would check the possibility of manufacturing the monoclonal antibody locally for Nipah treatment.
The Minister said no positive cases had been reported in the district in the last eight days. The results of seven samples received on Saturday were also negative, she informed.
Health officials said they had sent 372 samples till date for tests. “In Kozhikode, 915 persons are still in the contact list of the infected,” they said, adding that intensified surveillance would continue with the support of trained health technicians and postgraduate students from the Kozhikode Medical College.
District Collector A. Geetha, Additional District Magistrate M.C. Mohammed Rafeeque, Sub Collector V. Chelsasini, Health department Director K.J. Reena, and Arogya Keralam District programme manager C.K. Shaji were present at the review meeting. Arrangements at the special lab set up at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital were also reviewed by the health team.
