No patient with symptoms similar to Nipah in Maha: Minister

Maharashtra Public Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant today said that the state did not have any patient having symptoms similar to the kind caused by the Nipah virus.

The virus, presumed to be spread by bats, has so far claimed the lives of two people in the southern state of Kerala.

"Not a single patient in Maharashtra has been found having symptoms similar to the Nipah virus infection," Sawant said.

He said that instructions had been given to hospitals in the state to keep an isolation ward ready as a precautionary step.

The minister said that hospitals have been asked to report to the state government if they come across people who were showing symptoms similar to the Nipah virus and had also visited or recently returned from Kerala.

Private hospitals have been told to inform the state government about such instances and also shift the patient to a government hospital.