Amid news of 10 deaths in the South Indian state of Kerala due to the Nipah virus, the Health Protection Agency has said that there have yet been no reports of the highly contagious illness in the Maldives.

Maimoona Abubakur, the director general of public health at the Ministry of Health, said that they are conducting tests into the likelihood of infections in the Maldives.

“We are working to ascertain the likelihood of the virus being carried into the Maldives. There have been no reports of it yet” Maimoona said.

The US Center for Disease Control said ‘people can take steps to prevent Nipah by avoiding exposure to sick pigs and bats in endemic areas and not drinking raw date palm sap”.

The disease carries symptoms such as fever, headaches, drowsiness, and confusion, which all appear between five to 14 days of infection. Nipah causes coma-inducing inflammation of the brain and has no known cure.