Alert on Nipah virus, Bat Sanctuary at Tata zoo under vigil

Jamshedpur, May 25 : The district health department has issued an alert on fears over the Nipah virus. The department has also asked officials to take necessary steps to spread awareness about the disease and its possible manifestations. The bat sanctuary of Jayanti Sarovar at Tata Steel Zoological Park has been put under scanner.

Situated at Jayanti Sarovar in Jubilee Park the Bat Sanctuary is also Jharkhand�s lone urban reserve of flying foxes or giant fruit bats. Spread across 7 hectares island habitat located in the middle of the Jayanti Sarovar is a bustling habitat for migratory bird and bat.

The island boasts of several fruit-bearing trees of the ficus familylike figs – a staple diet of the giant fruit bats. The dense greeneryof the park, home to fruit-bearing trees like papayas and mangoes,also ensure ample food for the bats. Even during the day, colonies ofbats are found hanging from the branches of the trees.
East Singhbhum IDSP officer DrSahir Pall has written a letter to Tata zoo director BipulChakrabarty and to over a dozen hospitals, expressing the need for prevention since there is no vaccine yet for the deadly virus.

“The bat island of Jayanti Sarovar sprawls over an acre. Jubilee Park is visited by many every day. We have asked the zoo to put up awareness posters,” said Pall.
Hospitals have been asked to keep isolation wards ready. Throat swabs and urine and blood samples of people with symptoms must be sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for confirmatory tests.

Civil surgeon DrMaheshwar Prasad said Tatanagar station authorities would also be asked to put up hoardings informing people about symptoms and advising them on the dos and don’ts.

� We are spreading awareness among people. A poster has been put up near zoo in view of bats. We have not found a single case of Nipah in the state, so there is no need to panic. But we need to be alert just the same. We have conducted a review meeting and have asked the health officials concerned to keep an eye,� said another official.

According to information, the virus spreads from bats that eat fruit. If a person comes in contact with the fruit that infected bats have eaten, the virus can spread. So if someone is infected it is necessary to isolate that person and the relatives are also advised to stay away. Citizens are advised not to eat any fruits found lying near trees.