23-YEAR OLD INFECTED WITH DEADLY VIRUS; 86 UNDER MEDICAL OBSERVATION

As per NDTV reports, a 23-year-old college student, has been admitted in a private hospital in Kerala's Ernakulam city as he has been tested positive for the deadly Nipah virus, which killed 17 people in the state last year.

According to media reports, the National Institute of Virology, which tested his blood samples in Pune, confirmed the presence of the virus, the government said today. Four more people, including two nurses, are down with fever and two of them had come in contact with the 23-year-old man. Over 80 people, among them 22 students, are under surveillance.

Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, adding Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has assured of full support and said "The test results have come from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and it's positive for Nipah. The health authorities have made elaborate arrangements... NIV authorities will be handing over the medicines that have come from Australia."

The Minister has further urged people not to panic and take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease. "We have confidence that we can face it. We have faced it in Kozhikode last year and contained it." Appealing to social media users not to spread panic among the public, she said stringent action would be taken against those indulging in such acts.

Media reports state that, fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of the Nipah virus. Nipah virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human.

Meanwhile, Health authorities in Thrissur said the student, who was suffering from fever, had sought medical assistance at two private hospitals in that city when he had come to Kochi for a training programme recently as part of his course. The infected student from Ernakulam district is studying in Thodupuzha in Idukki district.