A Corowa man who contracted Japanese encephalitis remains in a critical condition in a Melbourne hospital.
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David Kiefel, 61, had been transferred from Albury hospital to The Alfred on March 1, as the mosquito-borne disease developed quickly.
His wife Jackie Monk said hospital staff had worked around the clock to keep her husband alive.
Mr Kiefel underwent a tracheotomy on Saturday. He can initiate his own breathing, but relies on a 30 per cent supply of tidal volume of oxygen.
After speaking with the Alfred Hospital's infectious diseases specialist, Ms Monk said people with the severe form of the virus don't usually survive for as long as her husband.
The hospital had advised her Mr Kiefel's age and previous medical conditions had to correlation with Japanese encephalitis.
"The big thing about JE is that it damages your brain and your spinal chord," Ms Monk, a nurse, said.
"The fact David can feel or move his feet and his hands and his head is a huge gain.
"They thought his nerves would have been damaged. "
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However, doubt remains as to the extent of his recovery.
"He appears to be cognitively intact, and his memory seems to be mostly intact," Ms Monk said.
An attempt to get him to read on Sunday was not successful, but Ms Monk remained hopeful.
Close friend of the couple Cally Loridas was holding back tears as she spoke of their daily ordeal.
"He could pass away from a blood pressure drop," Ms Loridas said.
"To us, (David's progressions) are massive, massive milestones."
Ms Loridas said after they saw data from overseas, the specialists were unsure how David's condition would progress.
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