JA-ELA, Sri Lanka (News Cutter) —A 49-year-old man in the Ja-Ela area has been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis bacterial disease, which caused the deaths of several inmates at the Galle Prison.

The patient, a resident of the Ratmalana was admitted in Colombo National Hospital for medical tests and treatment.

About 30 close contacts of the patient have been tested at his workplace and measures have been taken to provide them with antibiotics.

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has called for measures to control the spread of ‘brain fever’ in the Western and Southern provinces.

The Epidemiology Unit emphasized that the general public should not have undue fears about the disease, as patients suffering from the same illness are reported in Sri Lanka every year.

The cause of death and hospitalization was later attributed to meningococcal meningitis.