An expert team from the State Institute of Animal Diseases of the Animal Husbandry Department on Thursday collected samples of arecanut and rambutan fruit from the house premises of Mohammed Hashim, the 12-year-old boy from Chathamangalam in Kozhikode district, who succumbed to Nipah infection earlier this week.
The team led by Disease Investigation Officer Mini Jose inspected house premises in the Munnur locality in Pazhoor village near Chathamangalam. They also visited the nearby plot where rambutan trees grow. The arecanut samples collected were half-eaten by fruit bats, considered to be the natural carriers of the virus. They directed the local residents to stop fishing in the river next to the plot. Since a bat habitat had been found across the river, grazing of animals on the path leading to the rambutan trees was also asked to be stopped. The team members also sought steps to help dairy farmers, who have been hit hard by the declaration of the area as a containment zone. The farmers were found to pour milk on the ground as they were unable to sell it.
Steps have been taken to procure the milk and take it to houses and milk cooperative societies.
