CUDDALORE/PUDUCHERRY: A 79-year-old man from Cuddalore who was working in Kerala has been admitted to JIPMER, Puducherry, after he was suspected to be affected by Nipah virus.
According to health department officials in Cuddalore, Ramalingam, of Kattumannarkovil, had been suffering from severe fever and cough for the last five days. His son-in-law brought him home from Kerala and took him to the government hospital at Kattumannarkovil. The doctors, however, referred him to Jipmer hospital on Monday night after finding symptoms of Nipah in him.
“The man is showing Lower Respiratory Tract Infection, not any actual symptom of Nipah. Health department officials are also checking if any of his family members are showing any symptom of Nipah,” said M Geetha, deputy director of health services, Cuddalore.
Ramalingam has been kept under observation in an isolated ward and his body fluid samples have been sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, for testing. They, however, said that his is likely to be a case of Japanese encephalitis.