A 20-year-old man from Kerala, who travelled to Goa by train on Monday has been quarantined at Goa Medical Hospital near Panaji, after showing symptoms suggestive of the Nipah Virus.
Goa Health Minister Vishwajeet Rane issued a statement to the press saying that it had not yet been confirmed whether the man was indeed infected by Nipah, and it could only be confirmed after his test results returned from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.
“It is not clear yet whether it is a Nipah case. We will have to wait for test results from Pune. The person admitted himself on his own, after he felt he had some symptoms similar to those affected by Nipah and he has been kept in the isolation ward at the Goa Medical College,” Rane said to the media.
Doctors from the hospital reportedly told members of the press that there was “no need to panic,” as it had not yet been confirmed what the man was afflicted with and that he was “not quarantined but being kept in isolation as a precautionary measure.”
On May 31st, the results from the virology lab in Pune came out negative for Nipah virus.
Earlier this month, the sudden outbreak of Nipah virus in Kerala plunged the state into panic mode with the death toll from confirmed cases reaching 14 and while many others have been admitted into critical care units.
While bats are the primary hosts for the disease, incidences of it being contracted from infected pigs and infected persons have also been documented.
At present there is no known cure or vaccine for the virus and the primary treatment method for patients has been entirely supportive measures.
According to a report in The Wire, scientists at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) have reached out to specialists in Australia requesting them to provide an antibody developed in Queensland, Australia to ‘test if it can neutralise the virus in humans.’
(With inputs from IANS)