Gandhinagar, January 19: The mystery virus that created a panic of sorts among the medical fraternity in Ahmedabad following the death of a patient, her consulting doctor and nurse, has been identified, state Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas said here Tuesday.According to the minister, a sample sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, has identified the virus as Crimian Congo Haemorregic Fever (CCHF).
Thirty-year-old Amina Momin, from Kolat village of Sanand Taluka near Ahmedabad, was admitted to a private hospital in Ahmedabad in the first week of January after she was reported suffering from a mysterious fever.
The patient subsequently died. There was consternation in medical circles when her consulting doctor Gagan Sharma, who had examined her, also passed away Jan 13. Her nurse Asha John died Tuesday.
Amina’s husband Hussain Rehman and brother Hussain Rasool are also suspected to have contracted the same virus.
Vyas said that the state government was not taking chances and a team of experts headed by Kamlesh Upadhyaya has been constituted to take charge of the matter. “Survey teams have fanned out in a five-kilometre area of the village to which the patient belonged to carry out a door-to-door check,” he added.
Meanwhile, a team from Delhi is expected here in the next two days to conduct a study. Municipal health authorities said that random sampling was being done in the city hospitals to check if there was any spread of the virus.
–IANS–