Gujarat govt clears air on Zika virus
The Gujarat government on Sunday clarified all reported cases of the Zika virus are old and had been cured, with no new case in the state.
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported India’s first cases of Zika virus outbreak in the city.
J N Singh, chief secretary, Government of Gujarat, said, “There is nothing serious. Those were isolated cases that had come and are old and cured. We want to assure people that due care has been taken to check the possibility of spread of the Zika virus after its first detection. In fact, both pregnant women whose blood samples had revealed the virus have given birth to healthy babies.”
In its latest disease outbreak news dated Friday, WHO confirmed three cases of Zika virus from Ahmedabad, including a pregnant lady tested in January.
All three laboratory-confirmed cases of the Zika virus were in the Bapunagar area.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika. Among those, around 500 mosquito samples were collected from Bapunagar area, and were found negative for Zika.
A routine surveillance detected a laboratory-confirmed case of Zika virus disease through RT-PCR test at BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad.
Singh said intensified surveillance and preventive actions were undertaken in the Bapunagar area and the west zone. Teams from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and 140 multi-purpose health workers have been deputed for fever surveillance and source reduction activities.
An advisory for screening pregnant women with fever has been issued to all districts corporations and hospitals.
Zika fever is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which also transmit dengue and chikungunya.
The major clinical symptoms are fever, joint pain, muscle pain, red eyes, rashes on body and headache.