E-Paper
Pune dist’s Belsar village with first Zika case likely to be declared containment zone
Along with the infected villages, seven more villages that fall within the five kilometre radius of the infected villages are being surveyed to ensure that every symptomatic patient is tested
A day after the state’s first confirmed case of the Zika virus was reported in Pune from Purandar tehsil, the administration has swung into action to ensure that the spread is contained.
Along with the infected villages, seven more villages that fall within the five kilometre radius of the infected villages are being surveyed to ensure that every symptomatic patient is tested.
The taluka administration is now contemplating a proposal to declare the village as a Zika-containment zone, to ensure that movement is restricted and that the spread is contained. The rural health administration which was already burdened with Covid19 restrictions in place, will now need to battle a new virus.
Amar Mane, Block Development Officer of Purandar taluka said, “We have surveyed the villages and assigned 10 teams who have to survey 50 families each in the village, and in the nearby villages within a five-km radius of ground zero of Zika, which is Belsar village. We have seven villages which will also undergo the survey. We will soon send a proposal to get orders to declare Belsar a containment zone and stop the movement of outsiders into the village, which we hope to get by Monday. In this survey we will collect blood samples of those with fever or any flu-like symptoms. A team from NIV has also arrived in the village. We are requesting people to change water collected every week to ensure there is no growth of larvae. Belasar has 3,700 people living in it.”
The confirmed case of Zika was that of a 50-year old woman when she was undergoing treatment at the local primary health centre, as the village was already reporting cases of dengue and chikungunya.
Samples were sent to NIV on July 22. Mane said, “In the past one month we had multiple confirmed cases of chikungunya and dengue, however, no one reported any severe symptoms. As part of the ongoing survey we found this case. No one else in the family tested positive for Zika or any other ailment.”
Zilla Parishad chief executive officer (CEO, Ayush Prasad, said, “Zika is not as contagious as Covid-19 and there is no need to panic. The recovery rate of Zika is very high and the symptoms are mild. Only pregnant women are advised to be more cautious. As of now we have prepared 10 teams who would carry out a survey to look for symptomatic patients not just in that village, but also nearby villages. Due to the aggressive testing we could find this case and we are also providing mosquito nets door to door.”
On Sunday, a total of 2,699 people were surveyed by 13 teams and 20 samples have been sent for further inspection including that of five with fever, five pregnant women and 10 high-risk individuals, mostly family members of the Zika confirmed case. The samples sent for inspection are from nearby villages which fall within the 5km radius of Belsar village. The survey would continue for two more days as per protocol.
