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Kozhikode Hospital Treats Critical Nipah Patient as Contact Tracing Reaches About 100

Central ICMR and NCDC teams are supporting a state response that uses monoclonal antibody therapy and imported remdesivir to prevent a bat‑linked spillover from spreading.

Overview

  • A 43‑year‑old man from Ramanattukara was admitted to Kozhikode Medical College and remains on ventilator support after testing positive for Nipah; he received a monoclonal antibody on June 12 and remdesivir was administered on June 14.
  • The Indian Council of Medical Research has deployed a team to Kozhikode and the National Centre for Disease Control experts are expected to join, while household surveys and active surveillance have visited hundreds of local homes.
  • Officials have compiled a contact list of roughly 100–103 people with four classed as very high risk and multiple close contacts testing negative so far, and no secondary Nipah cases have been reported.
  • Treatment logistics revealed gaps: ribavirin was given on admission, remdesivir had to be procured from Bahrain after Indian supplies were unavailable, and an expired antiviral stock was found in Chennai.
  • The response is taking place against Kerala’s history of recurring bat‑linked Nipah spillovers and a separate rise in shigellosis that has produced about 135 cases statewide, a strain that has fuelled political criticism over coordination and a contested DHS transfer.