Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is leaving for the US on Thursday, on a 13-day tour to attend various programmes.

One of them is a reception organised by the Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore, in recognition of the steps taken by Kerala to prevent the spread of Nipah virus that claimed 17 lives in the state in May this year.

State health minister K K Shyalaja would also attend the reception scheduled for July 6, an official press release here said on Wednesday.

Pinarayi would attend, among others, a meeting organised in Philadelphia by the Federation of Kerala Associations in North America. The chief minister would return to Kerala on July 18, the release said. This is his first visit to the US after assuming office in May 2016.