Nipah robs a family of its fourth member

Ubaid choked up as he spoke. “I don’t know if I will be able to talk... This is really hard times for us...,” he paused for a while before trying to regain his composure. Ubaid’s family had just lost the fourth member to the Nipah virus.

Moosa, 60, of Valachuketti house in Sooppikkada village in Changaroth grama panchayat, died on Thursday morning at Baby Memorial Hospital in the city.

Plans go awry

Mr. Ubaid, Moosa’s elder brother’s son, told The Hindu that his uncle and family were planning to shift to a new house when the unfortunate turn of events began.

“There were six people in my uncle’s house. He, his wife, and their four sons. Now there are only two. Mohammed Salim, another son, had died in a road accident in 2013,” he said.

First victim

It was Moosa’s son Mohammed Sabith, who succumbed to the virus first, on May 5.

Tragedy struck the family again as Mohammed Salih, his brother, and Mariam, their paternal uncle’s wife, died within a fortnight.

Salih, an engineer, was engaged to be married. His fiancée too is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi.

Fortunately, her lab results have turned negative. Family sources said Mariam had volunteered to be a caregiver when Salih was in the hospital, from where she is suspected to have contracted the infection.

As Moosa’s house stands deserted, his wife Mariyumma and younger son Mohammed Muthalib are now staying at a relative’s house.

Source unclear

As the source of the infection is yet to be ascertained, local people are coming up with various theories.

One section says they got it from bats while Moosa and sons were cleaning an unused well on the premises of the new house. Another group says the pet rabbits in the house might be the source.

“I hope the virus does not spread to others. Such fate should not befall any family,” Mr. Ubaid adds.