'Avoid travelling to Kerala': Karnataka issues health advisory after one more Nipah virus case reported Kozhikode

After one more case of the Nipah virus was reported in Kerela's Kozhikode on Friday, the neighbouring state of Karnataka has issued a circular to intensify surveillance in the districts bordering Kerala to prevent the transmission of the infection.The total number of active cases of the Nipah virus has gone up to six in Kerala with two deaths recorded in the southern state.In the circular, the Karnataka Health Department advised district authorities to “Set up check posts for fever surveillance at points of entry from Karnataka to Kerala. Intensify fever surveillance in bordering districts such as Chamarajanagar, Mysore, Kodagu, and Dakshin Kannada.”In addition to this, the Karnataka Health Department has advised people to avoid unnecessary travel from Karnataka to affected areas in Kerala.Schools, colleges to remain shutThe Kerala government has ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and educational institutions in Kozhikode on Friday.Amid concerns over the Nipah virus in Kerala, the government on Thursday took 15 body-fluid samples of those in the ‘high-risk’ contact list linked to the first Nipah victim for testing.Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, reviewed steps taken for containment of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, Kerala, from the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), in Pune.With inputs from ANI