Another 10 cases of Zika virus detected in Jaipur; total 42

Ten additional people in Jaipur district, Rajasthan, have been tested positive for Zika virus, bringing the total number of cases to 42, said Friday a senior official of the Ministry of Health.

The 10 cases were detected in the Shastri Nagar region of Jaipur.

The figures were released by the Rajasthan Health Department at the conclusion of an examination meeting chaired by Veenu Gupta, chief secretary-in-chief of the medical and health division, on Friday.

"Thirty of the 42 patients are doing well after treatment," said a department official after the debriefing meeting, during which the measures taken to contain the situation were discussed.

Most cases have been detected in the Shastri nagar area, where fogging activities and other anti-larval activities are underway to prevent the spread of the virus. The first case surfaced on September 22nd.

The department also issued a notice asking pregnant women residing outside Shastri Nagar not to visit the area.

A control room has been activated at the National Center for Disease Control to monitor the situation.

The number of surveillance teams in Jaipur has increased from 50 to 170 and a special isolation ward has been established at the Hira Bagh Training Center to treat patients with Zika virus.

A team from the National Institute for Malaria Research (NIMR) recently discovered the Zika virus in some mosquitoes sampled from Shastri Nagar, suggesting that they are at the same time. origin of the infection.

Dr. Neena Valecha, Director of NIMR, had previously stated that the virus appeared to be transmitted locally.

The state government has received information, education and communication (IEC) materials designed to raise public awareness of the Zika virus and prevention strategies.

Zika virus, transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, causes fever, rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain. It is harmful for pregnant women because it can result in microcephaly, a condition in which the head of a baby is significantly smaller than expected, in the newborn.

In India, the first outbreak was reported in Ahmedabad in January 2017 and the second in Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, in July of that year. Both of these outbreaks were controlled by intensive surveillance and vector management, the ministry said.

The disease continues to appear on the surveillance radars of the Ministry of Health of the Union, although it no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern according to the notification of WHO since the November 18, 2016.