The death toll due to fever caused by a Nipah Virus (rare virus) mounted to four with one more person succumbing last night, spreading panic in the district of Kerala.

The victim was a 31-year old nurse of Perambra Taluk Hospital, who died on May 20th night due to fever. A native of Chempanoda in the district, the nurse had tended to three members of a family, who died of fever since May 5. Ten more people are undergoing treatment for the disease at various hospitals in the region. Meanwhile, Kerala Health Secretary Rajiv Sadanandan said the deaths of the trio were caused by Nipah Virus (NiV), spread by fruit bats causing severe disease among animals and humans.

This was confirmed by National Institute of Virology, Pune, reports said. Urging the people not to panic, state Health Minister K K Shylaja said the administration was aware of the situation and launched adequate measures to analyse the cause. "National Virology Laboratory, Manipal has found the cause as a rare fever and the blood samples have been sent to Pune for further tests", she said.
Stating the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has been informed of the development, "Centre was requested to depute an expert team to study the issue", she added.

Senior Congress leader M K Raghavan, representing Kozhikode in Lok Sabha urged both the Centre and the state government to take joint steps to contain the rare fever. A letter seeking Central aid has been sent to Health Minister J P Nadda, said a release. In another letter to state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr Raghavan sought free treatment to affected people.