Condition of Nipah patient stable, says Kerala Health Minister

The Kerala government Wednesday said the condition of the college student being treated at a private hospital here for Nipah virus is stable while six others have been kept under watch at a local government medical college hospital.

Authorities have scrambled to trace the source of the potentially deadly virus which resurfaced in the state a year after it struck two north Kerala districts, claiming 17 lives.

A total of 314 people from various districts are currently under observation, a government bulletin said Wednesday evening.

According to the bulletin, of the 314, six people have been shifted to the isolation ward of the medical college hospital.

"The condition of the student is stable. It has not turned worse," state Health Minister K K Shailaja said, a day after the 23-year-old student was confirmed to be infected with the Nipah virus.

An official in the private hospital where the student is being treated also said his condition was stable.

"He is conscious. He is taking food," the official said.

A medical bulletin said there was enough stock of rebavirin medicine for treating the disease. Other medical equipment required for treatment have also been made available, it said.

"All situations in the state arising out of Nipah are under control," it said.

The bulletin said samples collected from the six people, currently being treated at the isolation ward of Kalamassery medical college hospital, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology at Pune and a government lab in Alappuzha.

Earlier in the day, the minister said thepreliminary assessment of the health of five of them showed that they were not "in a severe condition."