Zika virus cases increase in Jaipur, India as peak tourist season approaches

MUMBAI (Reuters) – At least 55 people tested positive for the Zika virus in the tourist city of Jaipur, India, up from 22 today, the local health department said Sunday, fearing the virus will spread. just before the peak tourist season.

About 280 health officials are touring homes in Jaipur, western Rajasthan, to detect the larvae in order to control the mosquito-borne virus, the Health Department said in a statement on Saturday.

Renowned for its palaces, museums and deserts nearby, Jaipur attracts many Indian and foreign tourists.

This is the third zika epidemic in India, the first in Ahmedabad in January 2017 and the second in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south of the country in July 2017 – both of which have been "under control" announced the government last week.

Discovered for the first time in 1947, the zika virus reached epidemic proportions in Brazil in 2015, when thousands of babies were born with microcephaly, a disease that causes babies with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains .

Of the 55 people found to be HIV-positive in Zika last month in Rajasthan, 38 are no longer present with the symptoms of the disease, said the department, adding that officials have carried out nebulization to control the mosquito population.

Women in their first trimester of pregnancy receive special attention, said Veenu Gupta, chief secretary of Rajasthan's additional health. Research has shown that women are at greatest risk of developing microcephaly during this period.

There is still no vaccine for Zika, although the Japanese Takeda Pharmaceutical and other companies are trying to develop it.

According to the World Health Organization, the latest cases have been recorded in the country through other diseases caused by mosquitoes.

The capital, New Delhi, has reported an increase in dengue cases this year, with 169 reported during the first week of October, bringing the total to 650 for the year, according to the local chain NDTV.