Twenty two people were tested positive for Zika virus in Rajasthan’s Jaipur following which the Prime Minister’s Office sought a detailed report from the Union Health Ministry. A team from the ministry will visit Jaipur today to take stock of the situation.
The first person, a woman, was tested positive for Zika virus on September 24 following which more samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for testing. Seven people infected with Zika virus live in the same neighbourhood.
“The PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) has sought a comprehensive report on the Zika virus outbreak in Jaipur,” a senior Health Ministry official said.
Bihar also issued advisories to all its 38 districts as one of the affected in Jaipur,a student, is from Bihar and had visited his home in Siwan in August. The student was in Bihar between August 28 and September 12 to appear for an exam. His family members have been put under surveillance.
Sources in Rajasthan’s health department said the people who have been tested positive have been kept in an isolation ward at Jaipur’s SMS Hospital.
A seven-member high-level central team is already in Jaipur to assist the state government in containing the spread. A control room has been set up at the National Centre for Disease Control to undertake regular monitoring of the situation.
Medical teams have been deployed in Jaipur’s Shastri Nagar area from where several cases were detected. 179 medical teams are working in six wards in the neighbourhood to watch out for any symptoms with extra attention on pregnant women.
A mass drive to contain the spread of the infection has begun in Jaipur. Apart from fogging and spraying to control mosquitoes, authorities have surveyed over 6,000 houses in Jaipur and have treated over 2,000 containers with a chemical called temephos.
Zika virus disease is an emerging disease currently being reported by 86 countries worldwide.
Symptoms of Zika virus infection are similar to other viral infections such as dengue, and include fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache.
In India, the first outbreak was reported in Ahmedabad in January and February 2017 and second outbreak in July, 2017 from Krishnagiri District in Tamil Nadu. Both these outbreaks were successfully contained through intensive surveillance and vector management, the ministry said.
The disease continues to be on the surveillance radars of the Union Health Ministry although it is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under WHO notification since November 18, 2016.
(With inputs from PTI)
