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A second Nipah-related death in Kerala prompted the state government to issue an alert in six districts on Sunday, with measures to ramp up contact tracing and field-level surveillance.

A 57-year-old man from Palakkad district, who died on July 12, is suspected to have been infected with the Nipah virus. A native of Malappuram had recently died from the infection.

State health minister Veena George said an alert was issued to hospitals in six districts – Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Thrissur –  along with instructions to report cases of fever or encephalitis with Nipah virus symptoms.

George said health teams are now carrying out fever surveillance in the region to detect any possible symptoms in others.

“Field teams have been strengthened, and all available data is being used to monitor the situation," George said.

She said a contact list has been prepared in the case of the 57-year-old man who died at a private hospital in Palakkad. He tested positive for the Nipah virus, but the state government is awaiting confirmation from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, she added.

The minister said the man tested positive at Manjeri Medical College. She said a list of 46 people who came into contact with the patient has been drawn up. CCTV footage and mobile tower location data have been used to help identify those on the contact list, she added.

She further said a detailed route map of the patient’s recent movements has been prepared, along with a family tree to trace close contacts. Further steps will be taken once confirmation is received from NIV, she added.

An official release said the Nipah virus contact list now includes a total of 543 people. Of these, 46 individuals are linked to the newly confirmed case, it said.

Authorities have directed the public to observe the following measures:

• Avoid unnecessary hospital visits, especially in the Palakkad and Malappuram districts
• Avoid visiting relatives and friends undergoing treatment at hospitals as much as possible
• Only one person should accompany patients as an assistant
• Health workers, patients and their companions who come to the hospital should wear masks.

Nipah virus is a zoonotic disease that spreads from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or via direct human-to-human contact, as per the WHO.