According to Italian news agency 'ANSA', the father of the marine said his son is ill with dengue, a mosquito-borne tropical viral disease that causes sudden fever, muscle and joint pain, and rashes. "Yes, Salvatore caught that infection," Michele Girone confirmed, adding, "He's a bit better now".
Girone and another Italian marine, Massimiliano Latorre, are facing charges of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 off the Kerala coast.
Meanwhile, the Italian defence ministry said Girone's condition was not a cause for concern but it has dispatched two military doctors to India, where the marine's wife and children are soon to join him.