Recent death of a five-year-old girl in Gujarat has been attributed to Chandipura virus, a state government medical officer said on July 16.

Blood test reports of the victim confirmed that she succumbed to the infection caused by Chandipura virus, said chief district health officer, Dr Uday Tilavat. The girl, a resident of Bhayli village on outskirts of the city, was admitted to hospital attached to Gotri Medical College on June 28. "Though she was given treatment for the advanced-stage viral infection, she died on June 30 during treatment," said Dr Tilavat.

"We had sent her blood samples to Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV). The report received by us recently suggested that she was infected by Chandipura virus," he said, adding that five such cases have been reported from various parts of Vadodara district in the last few days.

He said these patients are now doing well after receiving proper treatment. "The infection spreads through sandfly. We have deployed our rapid response teams to conduct preventive measures, including dusting to kill sand flies, in Bhayli and other areas" said the official. Chandipura virus causes fever and the symptoms similar to those of flu, and acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The virus is a member of the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae.