Mumbai-based engineer tests positive for swine flu

A 36-year-old engineer with a private firm has been diagnosed the first patient of swine flu in Maharashtra, health officials said today.

He is suspected to have contracted the disease during a recent visit to Honduras in Central America, they said. “We have received the medical reports of the patient, which confirmed that he had swine flu,” Dr Pradeep Awate, who is heading the state health department’s influenza cell, said.

The patient has been quarantined at the Kasturba Hospital and his condition is presently “normal”, he said. “His condition is normal and he has only mild fever and running nose. He is responding to treatment,” Awate said. The engineer had gone to Honduras on June 8 and returned on June 15 via New Jersey in the US. After his arrival, the engineer suffered a mild fever and cough and consulted a physician at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in suburban Andheri. He was referred to Kasturba Hospital in central Mumbai, the nodal centre for treatment of H1N1 viral infection in the city.

The results of his throat swab tests were received yesterday, which confirmed Swine flu, Awate said. Health officials visited the house of the patient and met relatives with whom he had had close contact. “We have advised his relatives to isolate themselves at home. They have been advised not to have close contact with others for now,” Awate said.

Another 24-year-old man was also quarantined at Kasturba Hospital yesterday after he showed symptoms of swine flu. His throat swab samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for test, he said. No other case of H1N1 virus was reported in the state so far, he said.