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Kerala Amoeba Outbreak: Two Children Discharged as Death Toll Reaches Five

State health officials have invoked public-health powers to intensify chlorination across suspected water sources.

Overview

  • Two children treated for amoebic meningoencephalitis were discharged from Kozhikode Medical College, reducing the active caseload to nine with two other children reported stable.
  • A 56-year-old woman from Malappuram died on Monday, marking the fifth fatality within a month after an earlier death of a 45-year-old man from Wayanad.
  • Authorities report patients largely from northern districts such as Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and a confirmed case from Kasaragod now under treatment in Kozhikode.
  • The Health Department has enforced the State Public Health Act, launching cleaning and chlorination drives, water testing, and restrictions on swimming in untreated or stagnant water.
  • Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is caused by Naegleria fowleri in warm, stagnant freshwater and infects when water enters the nose, with early symptoms including fever, severe headache and vomiting.