Overview
- Health officials say Kerala has logged about 146 confirmed Shigella cases since January, with roughly 70 cases reported in June and five deaths linked to the infection.
- Kozhikode and Malappuram are the worst-hit districts, with Kozhikode reporting the highest caseload and Malappuram recording multiple recent deaths including a seven-year-old child.
- The state announced a high-powered infectious-disease committee chaired by WHO consultant Dr S. S. Lal and ordered district outbreak monitoring units to strengthen response and prevention.
- Authorities have stepped up actions that include intensified testing, two-week local drives with well chlorination, inspections of food outlets and bottled water, and legal action for repeat hygiene violations.
- Officials and experts point to contaminated drinking water, inadequate pre-monsoon cleaning of wells and monsoon runoff as likely drivers of spread, and health teams are keeping parallel surveillance for Nipah and other infections.