Two people suspected to be infected with the brain-damaging Nipah virus are under treatment in Karnataka, a health official said on Wednesday, after an outbreak of the rare virus in Kerala killed 10.
Symptoms of the virus were seen in a 20-year old woman and a 75-year-old man in Karnataka’s port city of Mangalore after they traveled to Kerala and came into contact with infected patients there, Rajesh B.V., a district surveillance officer said.
“They are not confirmed Nipah cases yet, so there is no need to panic... the situation is under control,” he said, adding that blood samples of the two people have been sent to Manipal Centre for Virus Research and results are awaited by Thursday.
Neighbouring states are on alert after te outbreak of Nipah virus infection in Kerala. Ten persons have so far lost their lives to the Nipah virus in the northern Kerala districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram, health department sources said.
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Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Goa government stated that though there is no case of Nipah virus reported in the state so far, it would ask doctors to stay vigilant. If doctors find a patient showing symptoms of Nipah virus, they would be asked to immediately send that person's samples for laboratory testing, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.
He notified a committee, headed by the health secretary and other department officers, which would draw a protocol, in case there are cases of the virus reported in the tourist state. "At present, there is no reason to worry as there is not a single case of Nipah virus in Goa. The Centre has also not issued any alert except for a general advisory, briefing about the origin and symptoms of the virus," Rane told reporters this morning.
He said as part of the general advisory, "a circular would be issued to all private and government doctors in the state to stay vigilant about symptoms of the virus being seen in any patient."