Kochi: The 23-year-old youth from North Paravur might have contracted Nipah virus infection after eating rotten guava fruit, according to a six-member Central team here probing the source of the deadly virus.
The possibility was cited in the primary report submitted by the team to the Ernakulam district collector.
The team took the statement of the engineering student, undergoing trea-tment at a private hospital here, two days ago when his health condition improved.
“He told the officials that he had eaten rotten guava fruit two weeks before getting infected by the virus infection. However, it’s not known whether the guava fruit was bitten by fruit bats, which are thought to be carriers of the virus. ...
It’s only a preliminary report and the investigation for the source of the disease will go on,” said a senior health official.
The team members on Wednesday collected samples from fruit bats in North Paravur. The same will be submitted for laboratory test to detect the virus presence on Thursday.
Meanwhile, two out of five Nipah suspects admitted to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College were discharged on Wednesday. While three new persons with disease symptoms were admitted, the samples of ten persons sent for laboratory test on Tuesday turned negative.
The health authorities are set to exclude 33 out of the 330 persons, included in the contact tracing data, from the list on Thursday after they showed no symptoms throughout the virus incubation period (four to 14 days).
