UP’s first Zika virus case: Centre rushes team to Kanpur

A 57-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) warrant officer tested positive for the Zika virus in Kanpur on Saturday and his condition is now said to be stable

The Centre on Monday rushed a multi-disciplinary team of specialists to Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur where the state’s first known case of the Zika virus disease was reported.

The Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

The Union health ministry’s team of specialists would coordinate with the city and state level health officials in Kanpur.

District magistrate Vishakh G Iyer said a team from the state headquarters was stationed in Kanpur and the one from the Centre would join on Tuesday.

A 57-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) warrant officer tested positive for the Zika virus in Kanpur on Saturday and his condition is now said to be stable. The samples of 22 people who came in contact with him were negative.

The high-level team, comprising an entomologist, public health specialists and gynaecologist drawn from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, National Centre for Disease Control and RML Hospital, New Delhi, shall work closely with the state health department and take a stock of the situation on the ground.

Kanpur’s chief medical officer (CMO) Nepal Singh said the team would review the Centre’s action plan for Zika management that has been implemented and it would suggest necessary interventions needed to check the spread of the virus.

“They have specialists who have a better insight about how to contain any spread. We have implemented the SOP in letter and spirit and if there are technical gaps, the team will point out and we will address them,” CMO said.

The IAF officer who tested positive was suffering from fever for many days before he was shifted to the Air Force hospital. His blood samples were sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune on October 20 and test results confirmed he was positive for the Zika virus.

“All the 22 samples of his family members, relatives and friends sent to King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, have tested negative,” Singh said.

Caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day, symptoms of this disease are mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache.

Kerala was the first state to have reported a case of Zika virus in a pregnant woman on July 8, following which a high alert was issued in the state.