Man with Nipah symptoms kept under observation in Goa hospital

The state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has kept under observation a patient, who arrived here from Kerala and was found having symptoms of the Nipah virus.

State health minister Vishwajit Rane said the man was under observation at GMCH, located near here in North Goa district, and it was not yet confirmed if he was infected with the deadly virus.

The blood samples of the patient were sent for testing to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, Rane said, adding that there was no need to panic.

The patient's identity was not disclosed by GMCH.

A senior GMCH official said the man arrived in Goa from Kerala yesterday and complained of having symptoms similar to the Nipah viral infection.

"The patient himself suspected that he might be infected with the virus. So, adequate precaution has been taken by the hospital, as per the protocol drawn by the state government," he said.

The virus has so far claimed 13 lives in Kerala.

The outbreak of the Nipah virus infection, a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans, is suspected to be from an unused well at Perambra in Kerala's Kozhikode district which was infested with bats.

The natural host of the virus is believed to be fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus.

So far there is no vaccine against the virus which was first identified in 1998 in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia.