Health Minister K. Muraleedharan has refuted the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]-led Opposition’s allegations that there is lack of proper coordination in handling the Nipah infection situation in Kozhikode.

Addressing a press conference at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, on Sunday (June 14, 2026), he also trained his guns on K.J. Reena, former Director of Health Services (DHS), whose recent transfer to the regional public health laboratory, Ernakulam, had kicked up a row.

The Opposition had alleged that the Health Minister had not bothered to camp in Kozhikode to oversee the ongoing activities. Mr. Muraleedharan said that there was no need for him to be present in the city as he could coordinate with senior Health officials sitting in Thiruvananthapuram as well. The present situation did not warrant declaration of a containment zone in Ramanattukara, the native place of the 43-year-old patient. There was no cause for concern as the lab results of 29 of the 30 samples had turned out to be negative for the virus. There were no fresh cases either.

In serious condition

However, the infected person was in a serious condition when he was admitted to the MCH. Efforts had been taken to provide medicines on time. Antiviral drug ribavirin had been given from the first day itself. “Another drug, remdesivir, was procured from Bahrain and was administered today,” Mr. Muraleedharan said.

Referring to Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan’s criticisms against his absence, the Minister said that Mr. Vijayan had chaired a Cabinet meeting online while he was undergoing medical treatment in the U.S.

Ex-DHS' fault, not Collector's

Meanwhile, Mr. Muraleedharan also accused Dr. Reena of not communicating to him on time the lab results from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, confirming the Nipah infection, on June 11 afternoon. That was why he feigned ignorance about the test result during the evening press meet. However, M.S. Madhavikutty, Kozhikode District Collector, was unaware of this when she subsequently told the media that the test results were positive.

“The fault does not lie with the Collector, but Dr. Reena who did not pass on the information to me in the afternoon... She is not cooperating with the government. That was one of the reasons why she was transferred out. It is the discretion of the government whether to retain an official in one post or not,” Mr. Muraleedharan said.

On shigella infection

The Minister said that 135 shigellosis cases had been confirmed in the State since January 1, 2026. Of them, 68 were in Kozhikode, 16 in Wayanad, 14 in Thiruvananthapuram, 13 in Malappuram, six each in Kollam and Alappuzha, four in Thrissur, three in Idukki, two each in Ernakulam and Kannur and one in Kottayam. Three deaths too had been reported, two of which were in Kozhikode. Four children are undergoing treatment and the condition of two is serious, he said.

Cholera case in Palakkad

Mr. Muraleedharan also said that the District Medical Officer in Palakkad had been warned for reportedly claiming that there were no cholera cases in Palakkad before the results of the culture test to confirm the presence of the bacteria were made available.