Cuttack: The SCB Medical College and Hospital has kept in isolation eight Balasore district residents, who were found to be suffering from "an unknown respiratory disease".

All eight migrant workers of Nimatpur in Bhograi police limits, referred from the Balasore district hospital, were under observation at the 150-bed capacity special ward for dengue patients.

Aged between 18 and 24, the workers recently returned from Goa and developed cold and fever, triggering suspicion of being infected by Nipah virus.

They were admitted at the hospital early on Tuesday morning and were under treatment of pulmonary medicine specialists.

"The blood samples of the patients are being put to various kinds of test, but it has not yet been confirmed what respiratory disease they have been suffering from and whether they are infected with any deadly virus," said the ward's assistant nodal officer Dr Sriprasad Mohanty.

"The patients have not been quarantined. They have been kept in isolation as a precautionary measure," he said, adding that "the course of action are being decided on the basis of reports of various tests on their blood samples".

Mohanty said there was no need to panic as they were not confirmed cases of Nipah virus.

Hospital sources said no steps had been taken to ascertain whether the eight patients were infected by Nipah virus, so far, as it involved a complex procedure.

As there is no facility for conducting the Nipah test at the SCB, the blood samples have to be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune or Manipal.

More so, they have to be sent in special couriers that will exclusively carry the blood samples under isolated conditions.

No decision has yet been taken on sending them for Nipah virus test, sources said.

The virus had claimed several lives in Kerala. Suspected Nipah virus infected cases were reported in Goa, but later, the blood samples of the patients were tested negative.

The natural host of the virus is believed to be fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus. So far, there is no vaccine against the virus, which had first been identified in 1998 in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia.

Man robbed

Unidentified goons robbed a man of Rs 2. 20 lakh by brandishing weapons near a bus stand in Kutra police limits of Sundargarh district early on Thursday.

Sources said Tapan Purohit, who stays near Kutra bus stand, left his house for work with the cash around 7am. Two miscreants came on a motorcycle, intercepted him and snatched the bag containing the cash by brandishing a knife and a pistol.

Police have started an investigation. The cops conducted raids at various places to nab the culprits at the time the final reports came in.