Zika alert sounded across major airports

MUMBAI: The recent Zika outbreak in Singapore and Malaysia saw authorities at major Indian airports reverting to screening passengers from Thursday.

MUMBAI: The recent Zika outbreak in Singapore and Malaysia saw authorities at major Indian airports reverting to screening passengers from Thursday.

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An advisory from the union health ministry asked the Mumbai airport to set up Zika help desks before the immigration area at T2, the city’s international terminal.

The advisory also said fliers with fever and rashes — the basic symptoms of the disease — should get themselves checked by the airport doctor. The alert was also run on flight display screens.

The health ministry alert comes after 13 Indian workers, among 270-odd, tested positive for Zika, following the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease at a construction site in Singapore.

At least 151 people are said to be infected by the virus in Singapore, half of them from China, India and Bangladesh.

Zika is transmitted to people through the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Only 20% people develop symptoms, which are similar to dengue and chikungunya and include of mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and fatigue that last for two to seven days.

In pregnant women, Zika infection may cause birth defects microcephaly — unusually small heads — and other brain abnormalities in babies in the womb. Infection may also cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes paralysis.

There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika infection.