Karwar: Nipah Virus is spread by fruit bats and is potentially fatal to humans as well as animals. Therefore, awareness about it must be created in schools and colleges, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Roshan told officers concerned.

Speaking at an inter-departmental coordination committee meeting convened in Karwar to discuss the steps that need to be taken to check the outbreak of Nipah virus cases, Roshan said that no cases of Nipah have been reported in Karnataka till now but there was a need to be alert and take precautionary steps.

He said, Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus but it can also be transmitted from person to person and through contaminated food. So, he asked the officials of the Public Instruction Department to create awareness about precautionary measures that people can take in both the education districts of Uttara Kannada district. He added that awareness with demonstrations through medical officers must be created about other contagious diseases as well.

He said even anganwadi workers must tell people to have clean food, water and other measures that need to be taken to check the spread of epidemics.

He said that Uttara Kannada is a major pig-rearing district and so, officials of the Animal Husbandry Department must collect samples of blood in those areas and send it for testing. DHO G N Ashokkumar and others attended the meeting.