Trivandrum: A 23-year-old Keralite student admitted to a hospital in Kerala has been tested positive for the deadly Nipah virus according to initial tests, the Kerala health minister has confirmed.

“The patient has been tested positive. We are waiting for lab results from National Institute of Virology in Pune for final confirmation,” Kerala health minister KK Shailaja said.

“We have started a detailed investigation. When we tested the samples in Alappuzha Virology Institute, the results we got were doubtful. So, we have sent the samples to Pune for final confirmation,” the minister said adding that still the case is a doubt but we are prepared well to combat the situation.

On Monday, the Kerala government has issued a high alert on after the 23-year-old patient was admitted.

The patient is currently in an isolation ward in a hospital in Ernakulam.

The patient, who is also a student, studied in a college in Thodupuzha in Idukki and had stayed in Thrissur recently.

He has been suffering from fever and other symptoms for the last 10 days.

He had travelled with a group of 22 students from Thodupuzha to a company in Thrissur for an internship programme.

After the programme, the student went back to his house in Ernakulam.

With fever, he was first treated in a hospital in Thrissur and as his fever was showing no signs of recovery, he was moved the private hospital in Ernakulam.

It is from there his samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Alleppey and Pune.

Meanwhile, the district and medical heads have sprung into action in both Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.

According to Thrissur District Medical Officer District Medical Officer Dr KJ Reena, the student was in Thrissur only for four days and had been suffering from fever.

“There were 16 other students with him and six of them, who came in direct contact with him, are under observation,” the DMO said.

According to the World Health Organisation, a total of 18 Nipah cases were reported in Kerala last year and 17 people died.

Fourteen people had died in Kozhikode and three had died in neighbouring Malappuram in May last year.

The first set of deaths were reported on May 19, 2018, and since then, over 2,600 contacts were identified and followed up with during the outbreak.

Nipah virus is transmitted from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people.

It can cause a range of illnesses from acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis.