As the mystery viral fever is spreading in Andhra Pradesh and the experts are drawing a blank on the exact cause of the killer disease, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has mooted the setting up of a Virology Research Institute in Hyderabad on the lines of the Delhi-based National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). Talking to newsmen on the latest situation in tackling the disease, Naidu said the state government was in touch with the Centre.

Meanwhile, the committee of experts set up by the government has suggested immediate steps for establishing a full-fledged virus diagnostic laboratory in the state. The committee, headed by C S Bhaskaran, former vice-chancellor, NTR University of Health Sciences, also recommended strengthening of surveillance in all epidemic prone areas using sentinel animals by providing adequate facilities to the VBRI, Hyderabad.

The five-member committee, which was asked to review the situation arising from the outbreak of viral encephalitis, had submitted its interim report to the government. The experts could not find any evidence that would throw fresh light on the nature of the virus. They observed that clinically the reported cases of encephalitis were diagnosed as vector-borne - arboviral infection - without throwing light on whether they were JE or Dengue viruses. Only three out of the 60 serum samples from Karimnagar and Warangal districts tested positive for JE. Sixteen samples were tested for anti-measles Immunoglobulin M antibodies and 12 for Leptospira, but all were found negative. Twelve mosquito samples collected for entomological examination were identified as Culex tritaeniorhyncus, which is a known vector of JE.