Kozhikode: The condition of the 43-year-old man undergoing treatment for Nipah virus infection at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital remains critical, hospital sources said on Thursday. 

The patient is being treated in a specially prepared isolation ward, where a team of doctors is closely monitoring his condition.

Preliminary tests conducted at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on Wednesday indicated the presence of the virus, and samples had been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for confirmatory testing. The final results are expected on Thursday.

According to health officials, the patient is currently on ventilator support and remains under close medical observation. Authorities suspect that he may have contracted the virus while carrying out cleaning work at a godown reportedly inhabited by birds and bats, which are considered potential carriers of the disease.

The district health department has begun preparing the patient's route map by gathering information from relatives and others. Health workers are assessing details of people who may have come into contact with the patient at the de-addiction centre where he first sought treatment and at the private hospital in the city where he was later admitted.

Samples of five people identified as primary contacts of the patient will be tested at Kozhikode Medical College on Thursday. Health authorities are continuing efforts to identify and monitor additional contacts as part of the state's containment protocol.

Further decisions on containment and preventive measures will be taken at high-level meetings of senior health department officials scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode on Thursday. Health Minister K Muraleedharan is expected to chair a review meeting to assess the situation and coordinate the response.