In the wake of the Nipah virus claiming 10 lives in Kerala, the Union Health Ministry today asked people not to 'panic' and said the outbreak is 'unlikely' to spread as early and efficient containment measures were being taken.

The ministry also noted that the outbreak appeared to be a 'localised' occurrence.

The situation is under control, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said.

The minister after reviewing the situation in Kerala with Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Director General, ICMR, Dr Balram Bhargava, also directed officials to extend all support to the Kerala government in its prevention and management.

The health ministry said a total of nine persons are currently undergoing treatment and isolation wards have been opened in several hospitals in Kozhikode.

It said that a multi-disciplinary central team from the National Centre for Disease Control is in Kerala and is constantly reviewing the situation.

The NCDC team has visited the house in Kerala's Perambra from where the initial death was reported, and found many bats in a well from where the family took water.

Some of the bats have been caught and sent for examination to a laboratory to confirm whether they were the cause of the disease, an official statement said.

"Sixty different samples have been collected from the spot and sent for examination. There are two confirmed cases with history of contact with the index case.

"They were admitted to the Calicut Medical College and Hospital and died due to the Nipah virus," the ministry said in the statement.

The central team includes Dr Sujeet K Singh, Director, NCDC; Dr S K Jain, Head of Epidemiology, NCDC; Dr P Ravindran, Director, Emergency Medical Relief (EMR); Dr Naveen Gupta, Head of Zoonosis at NCDC; Dr Ashutosh Biswas, Professor of Internal Medicine at AIIMS; and Dr Deepak Bhattacharya, Pulmonologist at the Safdarjung Hospital.

Besides, the team also has two clinicians and an expert from the animal husbandry ministry.

The ministry has also mobilised a public health team from the NCDC's Kozhikode branch to assess the extent of the problem for risk assessment and management.   -- PTI