The health minister of Kerala, a state in southern India, said that authorities are taking precautions after a 14-year old boy died from the Nipah Virus and 60 people were identified as high-risk. An investigation last year showed that parts of Kerala were among the most vulnerable to outbreaks of this virus in the world. The Nipah virus, which is found in fruit bats and other animals like pigs, causes a deadly brain swelling fever.

The World Health Organization (WHO), due to its potential for triggering an epidemic, has classified Nipah as a priority disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Nipah as a priority pathogen because of its potential to trigger an epidemic.

Veena Georgie, state health minister, told reporters on local television in Malayalam that the boy who was infected died after a heart attack.

In a statement released on Saturday, she stated that as part of the Nipah Control, the government had issued orders for 25 committees to be set up to identify and isolate those affected.

Dr. Anoop K., director of critical-care medicine at Aster MIMS Hospital, Calicut said that a positive case of Nipah was diagnosed in a boy who attends school. Persons in contact with the boy are being monitored.

He said that there was a minimal chance of an Nipah outbreak at this point, and added that the situation will be monitored over the next seven to ten days.

The statement stated that 214 people are on the boy's primary contact list. It said that 60 of them were in the high risk category and that isolation wards had been established at hospitals to treat patients.

Local media reported that family members of the patient who was infected were being kept in a hospital for observation after a Nipah case was confirmed. The town of Malappuram is located about 350 km from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram. Local media reported that other people who could be at risk had been asked to isolate themselves at home.

The state government has said that it is trying to track down any infected people to stop the spread of this virus. Nipah is linked to the death of dozens in Kerala since it first appeared in the state in 2018

It was identified in Malaysia 25 years ago and since then, outbreaks have occurred in Bangladesh and India. Reporting by Sivaram Subramanian in Kochi, and Manoj Kumar at New Delhi. Editing by Tom Hogue.