Reports of the first case of West Nile virus in Uttar Pradesh have put the state Health Department on alert. With the state already grappling with Japanese Encephalitis, Acute Encephalitis and malaria, officials are worried about this new disease that has no vaccine nor is a particular line of treatment specified for it. West Nile is believed to be part of the Japanese Encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses.

So far the cases reported in India mainly depicted mild and non-fatal dengue, rarely requiring any hospitalisation. But eight-year-old, Aporva, who is admitted at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, is in a serious condition.

Doctors say that when he was brought to the hospital around two months back, he would experience 16-18 convulsions every day and remain unconscious all the time. While the number of convulsions have fallen, his condition remains critical.

Dr T N Dhole, the Head of the Microbiology Department at the hospital, said tests had confirmed Aporva was suffering from West Nile. “Since he had visited Delhi and Jaipur earlier, we will be writing to them...,” Dhole added.

The virus mainly infects birds and the main route of human infection is through mosquitoes.