Didn’t reveal Zika cases as WHO had taken it off public health emergency list: health ministry

India has so far tested 36,613 human samples and 16,571 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus.

In what looks like a face saving exercise in response to widespread criticism over having kept Zika cases under wraps for over a year, government on Thursday issued a statement saying the cases weren’t made public as WHO had declared Zika was no longer a public health emergency.

“...on 18th November, 2016, WHO had declared that Zika disease infection no longer constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Since WHO had already withdrawn the notification of Zika virus disease as a PHEIC the case was handled as per our existing protocol,” read Union health ministry’s official statement.

Cases of vector borne disease-- mainly dengue and chikungunya were noticed in the State of Gujarat during post monsoon period last year. The State Government had accordingly planned fever surveillance, vector surveillance and intense vector control activity.

“One of the blood samples collected during laboratory surveillance during this period from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation limits tested positive for Zika virus. This sample was retested at National Institute of Virology, Pune and was further confirmed through positive RT-PCR test and virus sequencing at National Institute of Virology, Pune on 3rd January, 2017. This sample was from a 34-year-old female patient admitted to hospital with complaints of fever following delivery of a healthy baby. She had no travel history to any Zika affected country.”

Following the first case, the surveillance was further strengthened and thousands of blood samples were tested given that 80% of the cases are asymptomatic.

“Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) surveillance and testing of antenatal cases were undertaken by the State Government and ICMR in Ahmedabad. This surveillance in total yielded 2 more cases of laboratory confirmed Zika virus disease (samples collected during January and February 2017). The other two cases include a 22-year-old pregnant woman in her 37th week of pregnancy and a 64-year-old male with 8 days history of fever.”

“After due process of investigation and verification of the Zika virus disease cases, WHO was notified of all the three Zika virus disease cases on 15th May, 2017.”

Health ministry has continued surveillance in the area to ensure there is no chance of a local transmission.

“We had even been testing mosquito pools and had expanded our network after the cases returned positive for zika, but luckily there has been no case after these,” said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Dr Swaminathan, who is also secretary of the department of health research, is a part of government’s interministerial task force to handle the Zika situation.

The ongoing country-wide Zika laboratory based surveillance in India has so far tested 36613 human samples and 16571 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus.

No other sample tested positive apart from the three laboratory confirmed cases reported from Ahmedabad.

National Guidelines and Action Plan on Zika virus disease have been prepared and shared with the States to prevent outbreak of Zika virus disease and containment of spread in case of any outbreak.

As a precautionary measure, all the international airports and ports have displayed signage providing information for travelers on Zika virus disease and to report if they are returning from any of the affected countries and suffering from fever.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme is tracking for clustering of acute fever cases in the community. It has also sensitized its State and District Rapid Response Teams.

In addition to National Institute of Virology, Pune, and Natonal Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, 25 laboratories under ICMR have been strengthened for laboratory diagnosis.

Three entomological laboratories are also conducting Zika virus testing on mosquito samples. Six more laboratories staff have been trained for vector surveillance for Zika virus in case required.

Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram 55 sites are tracking cases of microcephaly- a birth defect associated with zika. As of now, no increase in the number of cases or clustering of microcephaly has been reported from any of these centers.

Also, a 24x7 control room (011-23061469) is functioning from Directorate General of Health Services to respond to any queries from people in the disease.

“There is no cause for concern as there have no cases after those three. We are keeping a close watch,” said a senior health ministry official.