Following the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmation of India’s first cases of Zika virus having been detected in Ahmedabad in January this year, the Gujarat government swung into damage control.
At a specially convened press briefing on Sunday, Gujarat Chief Secretary J.N. Singh said the cases mentioned were old and the State had initiated all necessary measures to ensure that the deadly virus would not spread. No more cases had been reported, he said.
Mr. Singh said all precautionary steps had been initiated by the authorities and there was no need for emergency measures.
“There is nothing serious as of now. We want to assure the people that due care has been taken to check the possibility of the spread of Zika virus after the first detection of the case. The Health Department has taken all precautionary steps,” he said.
In its latest ‘member state’ report dated May 26, the WHO confirmed the first three Zika Virus cases from the Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad city in India based on a report by Government of India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The International body also confirmed the evidence on the circulation of the virus in India.
On May 15, the MoHFW had reported three laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika virus disease in Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad city in Gujarat.
The routine laboratory surveillance detected a laboratory-confirmed case of Zika virus disease through RT-PCR test at B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. These confirmed cases, tested during November 2016 to February 2017, included two women, one of them pregnant and a 64-year-old male.
Intensified surveillance
Giving an update about the measures taken by the government, Mr. Singh said the State government had already intensified surveillance and preventive actions by deputing health department teams in five districts adjoining Ahmedabad and covered a population of 1,25,000.
Zika fever is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which also transmits diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya. As per the report of WHO, so far 67 countries have reported Zika fever.
The Health Department has also issued an advisory for screening pregnant women with fever to all the districts and municipal corporations, government hospitals and maternity clinics.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus. Among these, close to 500 mosquito samples were collected from Bapunagar in Ahmedabad district. These tested negative for Zika.
No alert has been sounded at the Ahmedabad International Airport so far, and no screening is being conducted for Zika virus.
