Gujarat govt clears air on Zika virus, says no new case has been reported

Recently, the WHO had reported India's first cases of Zika virus outbreak in the city

The Gujarat government on Sunday clarified all reported cases of the Zika virus are old and had been cured, with no new case in the state. 

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported India’s first cases of Zika virus outbreak in the city.

J N Singh, chief secretary, Government of Gujarat, said, “There is nothing serious. Those were isolated cases that had come and are old and cured. We want to assure people that due care has been taken to check the possibility of spread of the Zika virus after its first detection. In fact, both pregnant women whose blood samples had revealed the virus have given birth to healthy babies.”

In its latest disease outbreak news dated Friday, WHO confirmed three cases of Zika virus from Ahmedabad, including a pregnant lady tested in January.

All three laboratory-confirmed cases of the Zika virus were in the Bapunagar area. 

The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika. Among those, around 500 mosquito samples were collected from Bapunagar area, and were found negative for Zika.

A routine surveillance detected a laboratory-confirmed case of Zika virus disease through RT-PCR test at BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad. 

Singh said intensified surveillance and preventive actions were undertaken in the Bapunagar area and the west zone. Teams from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and 140 multi-purpose health workers have been deputed for fever surveillance and source reduction activities.

An advisory for screening pregnant women with fever has been issued to all districts corporations and hospitals.

Zika fever is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which also transmit dengue and chikungunya. 

The major clinical symptoms are fever, joint pain, muscle pain, red eyes, rashes on body and headache. 

During the survey, 41,500 houses with a population of 171,000 were covered in Bapunagar area and west zone of Ahmedabad. 

As per AMC, indoor fogging, anti-larval activity and health education were carried out during the house to house campaign. “Over 90 blood samples were collected which were found to be negative for malaria, dengue or chikungunya,” the corporation stated. 

The first case of Zika fever was reported in 1947. As per the WHO report so far 67 countries have reported Zika fever.

Maximum Zika fever cases have been reported from Brazil and Puerto Rico, among other South American countries. About 80 per cent of patients infected with Zika virus are asymptomatic. 

Citing available data, AMC stated that Zika patients were not known to require hospitalisation nor was mortality reported. Requiring only symptomatic treatment and rest, the self-limiting Zika fever is not known to have any specific treatment or medicine available.

Earlier, J P Gupta, commissioner of health, medical services & medical education, Gujarat government had confirmed the development and said that the state government has already sprung into action. 

Gupta had said that while random samples were taken in the Bapunagar area where the first cases were reported, none other tested positive. Samples are being tested across Ahmedabad and laboratories have been alerted about the same. 

However, no alert has been issued at the airport so far, and passengers are not screened for Zika virus at Ahmedabad airport at the moment.

As part of the state government’s campaign of making Gujarat ‘malaria-free’ by 2022, AMC has launched a drive wherein over 1500 health workers would be deployed to check mosquito breeding. Under the drive, state health authorities plan to check more than 1.5 million households, office spaces, commercial buildings and institutions, among others across the city for prevalence of mosquito breeding sites over the next fortnight or so.