Five more persons at Kozhikode showed mild symptoms of Nipah, while those in the contact list of the deceased boy increased to 251 on Monday.
Specimen from eight persons, including the deceased boy's mother and health workers, showing symptoms are being tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. A large number of people in the contact list are health staff from across three hospitals who treated the 12-year-old.
Health department personnel in the know said that the source of the infection was yet to be ascertained. Experts who visited the deceased's house and nearby region on Sunday collected the specimen of fruits — mainly Rambutan fruit — as there were suspicions that the child had recently consumed it. Specimen from fruit bats in the region would be tested at National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases.
Though a goat died at the boy's house recently, experts had maintained that the chances of Nipah infection through goats was quite remote. The presence of wild boars in the region was also being examined, health department sources said.
Published 06 September 2021, 08:57 IST