Chennai: Allaying fears over outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in Tamil Nadu,which has claimed 13 lives so far in Kerala, state health minister C Vijaya Baskar said the government had taken all precautionary steps to prevent it.
"I categorically say there are no cases of Nipah virus in Tamil Nadu. In the two suspected cases reported in Kerala, I think they are still carrying out tests to ascertain if it is of the virus,", he told reporters.
On reports of two persons being admitted to the government hospital in Tiruchirapalli due to a 'mystery fever', he said diagnosis had confirmed it was just fever and nothing else.
To create awareness among the public on the possible spread of the virus in border districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Director of the Public Health department recently conducted a meeting in Coimbatore, he said.
"Through the Public Health department I sincerely appeal to the public to wash their hands before having food and never consume fruits which are bitten by birds".
The virus was suspected to have originated from Malaysia through fruit bats and passed on to humans when they consume fruits bitten by the mammal, he said.
"I categorically say there are no cases of Nipah virus in Tamil Nadu. In the two suspected cases reported in Kerala, I think they are still carrying out tests to ascertain if it is of the virus,", he told reporters.
To create awareness among the public on the possible spread of the virus in border districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the Director of the Public Health department recently conducted a meeting in Coimbatore, he said.
Advertisement
The virus was suspected to have originated from Malaysia through fruit bats and passed on to humans when they consume fruits bitten by the mammal, he said.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Madras High Court's Big Rebuke To Probe Agency In Illegal Sand Mining Row Another Politician Hacked To Death In Tamil Nadu, Cops Say Revenge Killing "Tamil Nadu Will Have Extreme Water Crisis By 2050 If...": K Annamalai Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests Joe Biden Is The Best Person To Take On Trump, Says His Campaign Wife Among Two Jailed For Life For Man's Murder In Gurugram: Cops 1,100 Flights Cancelled In US As Microsoft Outage Disrupts Operations Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.