Containment steps in Kozhikode after Ramanattukara man tests positive for Nipah

Kozhikode district administration started containment steps after a 43-year-old man from Ramanattukara tested positive for Nipah infection on Thursday.

Addressing the media in Kozhikode, District Collector MS Madhavikutty said that the patient was being treated in the intensive care unit of Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital and was on a ventilator.

An isolation ward had previously been established there. Ms Madhavikutty said there were 77 people in the patient’s contact list.

Meanwhile, surveillance and control steps were taken in the Ramanattukara municipality. A meeting of the rapid response team was held. Arrangements have been made to provide personal protective equipment, gloves and face masks. Medicines were also kept ready.

Ms. Madhavikutty said the Health department will coordinate with the Animal Husbandry and Forest and Wildlife departments under the ‘One Health’ approach. “The forest department has been asked to find out if there have been mass deaths of bats in roosting areas. The animal husbandry department has been asked to see if any infections in animals have been reported,” he added.

According to sources, the infected businessman had high fever and other symptoms of encephalitis. It was learned that he received rent for business purposes. He reportedly cleared the building in May. Health department officials suspect it may have come into contact with bat feces during the cleaning process. Another suspicion is that he may have eaten the fruits of the sapota tree where he lived.

Following this, he suffered from high fever attacks. Although he initially sought treatment at a nearby private hospital, there was no significant improvement in his condition. He was later admitted to a private hospital in Kozhikode city earlier this week. After doctors suspected Nipah infection, body fluid samples were sent for laboratory tests. The patient was admitted to the isolation ward at Kozhikode MCH on Wednesday night, June 10, 2026. The samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune after initial tests at the medical college laboratory came back positive for the infection.

This is the fourth time the deadly zoonotic disease has been reported from the region. The first Nipah outbreak in Kerala occurred in Kozhikode in 2018. The region experienced one spillover in 2021 and another outbreak in 2023. The infection has a high mortality rate. Spills are single instances of infection, while epidemics involve human-to-human transmission.