With detected cases mounting to 80, the provincial and federal governments in India have stepped up their response to the spread of the Zika virus, especially in the northern state of Rajasthan.
The federal government's Health Ministry on Tuesday directed the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to monitor Zika cases on a daily basis, while urging the people not to panic. Health Minister J.P. Nadda chaired a meeting of the concerned officials to review the situation.
Sh @JPNadda reviewed the status of Zika Virus Disease and H1N1 Seasonal Flu in a high level meeting today with officials of #MoHFW, NCDC and @ICMRDELHI. He stated that all support is being extended to #Rajasthan Govt for #ZikaVirus control and management. #SwasthaBharat pic.twitter.com/s475wopBEm
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) October 16, 2018
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"Over 250 teams of the medical and health department are engaged in door to door screening of the affected areas in Rajasthan, especially in the capital Jaipur where most cases were detected. Reports suggest that around one hundred thousand houses have been screened and fines have been imposed on people not abiding with the emergency health regulations of keeping the surrounding clean and free from mosquito growth," Dr. Nilesh Parmar, a senior member of the Rajasthan Medical Association, told Sputnik.
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Symptoms of the virus infection are generally mild and include fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache. Although non-fatal, symptoms last for two to seven days and a Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause infants to be born with microcephaly and other congenital malformations.
As of today, 80 cases of #Zika have been reported in Rajasthan, #India. According to the Ministry of Health, 330 teams have been deployed in affected wards of Shastri Nagar (Jaipur) and about 434,515 people have been brought under surveillance https://t.co/MA4Pzrz6SM pic.twitter.com/pS8BzczwMq
— ZIKAlliance (@ZIKAlliance) October 16, 2018
Although India has seen Zika virus cases since last year in episodes, this latest outbreak in Rajasthan is being seen as the largest outbreak. As per the World Health Organization, there is no treatment available for Zika virus infection or its associated diseases.
