In the wake of two deaths due to the Nipah virus in Kerala, Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) has initiated precautionary measures in border districts.
T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has directed the deputy directors of health services to deploy health teams to begin screening of passengers from Kerala at border check-posts. The health teams will be deployed round-the-clock in Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Tenkasi and Kanniyakumari districts, with immediate effect, he said.
The teams will screen all symptomatic fever cases, with necessary protective equipment, at the borders. The deputy directors of health services have also been told to alert government and private hospitals over Acute Encephalitis Syndrome cases.