Zika Virus Spreads to Gujarat, Woman Tests Positive In Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, October 28: After nearly 150 cases in Rajasthan, Zika virus is spreading in the neighbouring Gujarat state. On Sunday, a woman in Ahmedabad tested positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus infection. This is the first confirmed case of Zika infection outside Rajasthan this year. The victim, a resident of Bhavnagar city, was being treated at a state hospital in Ahmedabad.

According to Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra, the woman was admitted to the hospital on October 22 for gynaecological issues. Her blood samples were tested to check if she had dengue or malaria. But she tested negative. In a precautionary measure, doctors sent the blood samples to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for a test for Zika virus.

“Today NIV has confirmed that she was infected with Zika virus. But the woman has already recovered and has been discharged,” Nehra told news agency PTI. The municipal commissioner further said after the Bhavnagar woman’s samples were taken on October 22, the AMC swung into action immediately and started a massive drive to stop possible spread of the virus.

“We did not wait for the woman’s results, which came only today. As we considered it a suspected case of Zika, we formed 390 teams and have screened over 7.33 lakh people since October 22. Intense fogging was carried out to control the mosquito menace in the city,” he said. The virus can affect the health of unborn child if a pregnant woman gets the infection, he said.

“Therefore we screened over 5,000 women and took blood samples of 257 women to check if they have Zika infection. Results of 135 women have come….the good thing is these 135 samples have tested negative,” Nehra added. As many as 147 cases of Zika were reported from Rajasthan since September. Almost 440,000 people were under surveillance in Jaipur last month.

The first Zika cases in India were reported in January 2017 in Gujarat. Zika was also detected in Tamil Nadu in July 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said no vaccine is likely to be available until 2020.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 28, 2018 11:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).