Zika alert at airports as WHO confirms 3 cases in India

Ahmedabad - The government has constituted an inter-ministerial task force to tackle the spread of the virus.

The Zika virus has entered India, though the government has been saying it has taken pre-emptive measures. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed three cases of Zika virus, including a pregnant woman. The patients  all reside  in the Bapunagar area  in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. These are the fist confirmed Zika cases in India.
Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes active especially in the morning. People with Zika virus  display  symptoms including mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. But it could turn out to be deceptively fatal.
The WHO confirmed medical reports from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare - Government of India (MoHFW).
This was further confirmed at the national reference laboratory at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
Between February 10-16 in 2016, a total of 93 blood samples were collected at BJ Medical College (BJMC) out of which one sample from a 64-year-old male had tested positive for Zika virus.
"This was the first Zika positive case reported from Gujarat," the WHO statement said.
Also, a 34-year-old woman delivered a baby at BJMC on November 9 and during her stay in the hospital she had developed a low-grade fever after delivery.The woman had no history of fever during pregnancy and had no history of travel for three months.A sample from the patient was referred to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) for dengue testing and was found to be positive for the Zika virus.
The Zika virus is often very similar to the symptoms of mild forms of the dengue fever and has no clear treatment option and is easily transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to her child. The particular danger with Zika virus is that it can cause microcephaly, severe brain malformations, and other birth defects. The virus is extremely difficult to irradiate.
Besides, a 22-year-old pregnant woman in her 37th week of pregnancy was tested positive for Zika virus disease at the same hospital.
The Indian government had confirmed these cases and had sent the details of the patients to the WHO in March after which the global health body's confirmation in these cases came on Saturday, a ministry official said.
The Indian government  has constituted an inter-ministerial task force to tackle the spread of the virus.
All the international airports and ports have displayed information for travelers on Zika virus while the airport health officers along with airport organizations, the National Centre for Disease Control and the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program are monitoring appropriate vector control measures in airport premises. So far the WHO has issued no travel advisory against India.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has tested 34,233 human samples and 12,647 mosquito samples for the presence of Zika virus. Among those, close to 500 mosquitoes samples were collected from Bapunagar area, Ahmedabad district, in Gujarat, and were found negative for Zika.
"These findings suggest low level transmission of Zika virus and new cases may occur in the future," WHO said. It warned the virus is likely to spread fast.
The risk of further spread of Zika virus to areas where the competent vectors, the Aedes mosquitoes, are present is significant given the wide geographical distribution of these mosquitoes in various regions of the world.
The  disease has  claimed many lives in United States, Brazil and other countries before it entered India.
The Zika virus also known as ZIKV. It is a mutant  strain of virus that belongs to the Flaviviridae virus family. The name Zika virus has been derived from the Zika Forest of Uganda where the virus was first isolated back in 1947. The Zika virus disease often spreads in a similar manner or other mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, malaria, and chicken guinea.
There are no specific treatment options for Zika virus. But the patient suffering from this disease is often advised complete bed rest and increased water intake. The Zika fever is treated with basic paracetamol and pain medication. The crucial factor in the treatment is its early detection.
Gujarat had recently launched a massive drone attack to get rid of all the mosquitoes in the state to irradiate malaria, dengue and chicken guinea by 2022.  Now that Zika is here, the drones  are likely to get busier.

• India