A multi-disciplinary central high-level team has said, the Nipah virus disease is not a major outbreak and it is only a local occurrence.

The team said this after reviewing the cases of all the patients who have lost their lives due to the disease in Kerala. The team set up by the Health Ministry is presently in Kerala and constantly reviewing the situation.

It has also fine-tuned the draft guidelines, case definitions, advisory for healthcare workers, information to the general public, advisories for sample collection and transportation accordingly. According to an official release, the team held meetings with the District Collectors and the medical and para-medical staff of the hospitals to review the condition of the admitted patients and to consider further course of action to prevent the disease from spreading.

The Health Ministry said, the efforts taken so far for containment of the disease have been fruitful as the disease has not spread to new areas. It added that the contact tracing strategy adopted has also been successful.

It has been found that all the reported cases including the suspected cases had direct or indirect contact with the first casualty and his family prior to contacting the disease.

The Ministry said awareness among the general public has been encouraging and they have been asked to follow safe hygiene practices and not to consume fruits and vegetables partly eaten by birds and animals and steps to be taken while going near the infected persons and areas.

The central team also discussed with the hospitals the management and treatment of the patients. The Health and Family Ministry is closely monitoring the situation. As on today, 12 people have died and 14 cases have been reported.