Tamil Nadu steps up surveillance at border after Kerala boy dies of Nipah virus

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has stepped up fever surveillance at the borders after a 12-year-old boy from Kerala died due to Nipah on Sunday (September 4) early morning.

State Health Minister, MA Subramanian told IANS, "After we received the information about the boy who had passed away due to Nipah, we informed the senior health officials of nine districts sharing a border with Kerala to step up the fever surveillance."

The Minister also said that the state health department has shared information about Nipah virus to health officials across the state. He also said that the government has directed health officials to conduct fever clinics and camps on the borders. The state health department has also stepped up fever checking of all those who are reaching Tamil Nadu from Kerala by road.

MA Subramanian said, "When Zika virus was reported in Kerala, we had held fever camps at the border areas to screen people coming from Kerala and will repeat the same this time around."

The minister also said that the Chennai International Airport has installed thermal scanning facilities and has put in place RT-PCR testing facility that can provide results in 13 minutes to check on the Covid-19 infection among international passengers.

There were reports of a new Covid-19 variant that was detected in South Africa and hence the Chennai international airport has stepped up thermal scanning and RT-PCR facilities.

State health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan has sent a message to all the district collectors and district health officials to be vigilant for preventing Nipah and Zika virus after Kerala reported a Nipah case with a 12-year-old boy succumbing to it due to the Nipah attack.

(With agency inputs)