Kerala on alert after 14 Zika cases, Centre sends experts

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when Kerala is grappling with heavy caseload of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), reporting maximum daily cases in the country, the state is now facing yet another challenge in the form of Zika virus outbreak

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when Kerala is grappling with heavy caseload of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), reporting maximum daily cases in the country, the state is now facing yet another challenge in the form of Zika virus outbreak. The Union government on Friday rushed a team of experts to the state, where at least 14 cases have been confirmed so far, the state health ministry said in a statement.

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Of the 19 samples sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune last, 14 were found to be positive for Zika virus on Thursday.

Kerala health minister Veena George on Friday called an emergency meeting, and an action plan was formulated.

“We have started a vigorous vector control programme and the whole state was alerted. We are closely monitoring the situation and more testing labs will be opened,” said George, adding that there was no need to panic.

A 24-year-old pregnant woman from Parasala in Thiruvananthapuram district was among the 14 people to test positive for Zika virus on Thursday. A health official in the state said that the woman had a normal delivery on July 7 and both the mother and child are stable.

At least 60 more samples were sent to Pune on Thursday even as health authorities in the state were busy making arrangements to test samples at the NIV regional centre in Alapuzha, an official said.

The woman has no travel history, and it is suspected that she contacted the virus locally, adding to the worry of already overworked health officials.

A surveillance team, along with vector control experts and entomology units, visited the area where the woman lived and made the necessary arrangements to prevent the further spread.

State health authorities said the further spread could be contained with utmost vigil as all those who have tested positive so far live close to each other. Some of those affected also include health workers. “They were all working at a private hospital. We will check their travel history and take immediate action,” the minister said.

In Delhi, health joint secretary Lav Agarwal said a six-member expert team has been rushed to help the state. “The six-member team includes vector-borne disease experts and doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences,” he said.

While the virus is spread mostly through mosquitoes, it can also be transmitted sexually, experts said, adding that the fatality rate among Zika virus patients is very low and only one in five develops symptoms. The symptoms of the disease, first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947 and among humans in Nigeria in 1954, include joint pain, fever and headache. In May 2015, it was reported in Brazil, where it spread rapidly. The virus can cause shrunken brain in children and a rare auto-immune disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome, experts said, adding it was first reported in the country in Gujarat in 2017.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 infections continued to remain high in Kerala, which reported 13,563 new cases on Friday with the test positivity rate of 10. 4%, according to the state health bulletin. For almost a month, the state has been reporting highest number of cases in the country. It also reported 130 deaths taking the toll to 14,380.