Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 13 (IANS): A 24-year-old health professional at Kozhikode tested positive for Nipah on Wednesday night, taking the total number of active cases to three, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said.

All the three cases are at Kozhikode.

The fresh outbreak of Nipah started with the death of a person on August 30 but it was on Monday when a contact of the person, who passed away, tested positive, it was declared that Nipah is back.

George also said that there are 706 people who have been identified as contacts of which 153 are health professionals.

"Of these, 77 have been identified as high risk contacts," she said.

Earlier in the day, George informed the Kerala Assembly that all arrangements are in place to contain the spread of Nipah virus, including fully equipped hospital beds.

The present cases have been reported about 15 km from where the initial Nipah virus outbreak in southern India was first identified in Kozhikode in May 2018 and then again in 2021. Nipah virus infection is basically a zoonotic disease which can be transmitted from animals to humans. Besides, it can spread through contaminated food or through contact.