Kerala: Man tests positive for Nipah virus infection

Kochi (Kerala) [India], Jun 4 (ANI): A 23-year-old man in Ernakulam district of Kerala has tested positive for Nipah virus infection, state Health and Family Welfare Minister K K Shailaja said here on Tuesday.
A blood sample of the man was sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune which confirmed the infection, she told a press conference here.
On Monday, the minister had said that 86 people were put under medical observation after the man showed symptoms of the virus infection. He is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ernakulam.
"The government is fully equipped to deal with the situation. All decisions are being made based on our experience of the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode in May last year," Shailaja had said.
A special isolation ward has been set up at the Ernakulam Medical College to treat any suspected case.
Ernakulam district collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla has said that hospitals in the district have been given instructions on the procedure to be followed if patients with similar symptoms approach them.
"Hospitals have been asked to arrange a special ward for such cases and get special ambulances readied," Safirulla said.
Sixteen people had died in the southern state due to Nipah virus infection last year. (ANI)