KOZHIKODE: Healt h Minister Veena George has said that the test results of 20 more people on the Nipah contact list were also negative. Their samples were tested in a specially set up lab at Kozhikode Medical College on Friday.
With this, 88 samples have tested negative so far. The minister said two of them have been sent to National Institute of virology (NIV), Pune, for further testing. Home visits in the containment zone, mobile lab activity, and collection of samples were evaluated in detail during the Nipah core committee meeting held on Friday under the leadership of the health minister.
In addition to the existing mobile labs allotted for Chathamangalam panchayat where the Nipah case was reported, two more mobile labs have been set up taking the total number of labs to four. The four-member team of Pune NIV arrived at Chathamangalam around 5.30 pm. Wayanad Chief Forest Veterinary surgeon Dr Arun Zachariah also joined the team.
The NIV team headed by scientists Dr Mangesh Ghokale and Dr Balasubramaniyam after arriving here had spread out a net over the house of Abdul Rahman in Kuttiyod in Kodiyathur panchayat in order to catch the bats to collect samples from it for further testing and identification of Nipah virus. Forest Minister A K Saseendran has said that Nipah-Covid defence activities will be intensified in the district.
All efforts are being made to avoid similar situations in the district, he further said. Though home surveillance has been completed in Chathamangalam panchayat, health officials continued door-todoor visits to make sure that all people here are extremely safe, especially those from the affected ward-9.
88 samples found negative so far
A total of 88 samples have tested negative so far. The minister said two of them have been sent to National Institute of virology (NIV), Pune, for further testing.