Mobile lab team from National Institute of Virology, Pune arrives in Kozhikode to manage Nipah virus

In Kerala, a mobile lab team comprising three scientists and four technicians from the National Institute of Virology, Pune arrived in Kozhikode yesterday to assist the local authorities in managing Nipah virus infections.

The BSL Level-3 lab, stationed at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital will obviate the need for sending swabs of suspected Nipah cases to the NIV.

Another BSL Level-2 mobile lab belonging to the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, with facilities to test 96 samples at a time, has also been dispatched to Kozhikode.   Virology labs at Thonnackal near Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, and Kozhikode have facilities



to test the samples.

A high-level meeting in hybrid mode chaired by the state Health Minister Veena George was held this evening to take stock of the situation. The Minister said samples of all persons included in the high-risk category of the contact list of the first Nipah victim who died on the 30th of last month, will be tested. She said Medical Boards will be formed at all hospitals where Nipah patients were admitted to decide on treatment protocols to be followed.

Meanwhile, the Kozhikode district administration has declared the entire week a holiday for all educational institutions in the district.