In India’s third tryst with the disease, as many as 50 cases of Zika infection have been reported from Jaipur since September.
New Delhi: Fifty cases of Zika fever have been reported in Jaipur, Rajasthan, since 21 September, but the union ministry of health and family welfare says it’s not yet an “outbreak”.
“The Breteau Index, which records the density of infection-causing mosquitos per 100 houses, was over 100 when the first incidence came to light,” said health secretary Preeti Sudan, “It has now reduced to 14, after we have increased fogging, fumigation and surveillance around the city.”
“The situation is under control and it is not yet an outbreak of Zika virus,” she added.
“Intensive surveillance has been ordered within a three-kilometre radius of where the first case was recorded,” said Sudan, “There are 58,000 households in the affected area and 258 teams have been deployed to identify cases of fever, pregnant women and mosquito breeding sites.”
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Zika virus has never caused severe disease or death in adults, and symptoms include high fever, rashes, joint and muscle pain, headache and red, itchy eyes. The treatment is generic.
However, if a pregnant woman is infected, the virus puts the unborn children at risk of microcephaly, a congenital condition where the baby’s head is smaller than normal because of abnormal brain development, which may further restrict development and prove fatal.
Sudan suggested that in all probability, the virus had made a comeback in India through an infected tourist.
The first person to test positive for the virus, spread primarily through the bite of the Aedes mosquitoes, was an 85-year-old woman with no travel history.
Not the first time in India
According to researchers, India has a healthy population of the Aedes mosquito due to unhygienic dwellings and conducive climatic conditions. Also, the genetic mutations of Indians make the virus stronger here.
Experts said this spread of Zika may transform into a crisis unless halted efficiently.
“Given the rising trend of dengue outbreaks, almost endemic in urban pockets across India, and the increasing breeding sites for the Aedes mosquito, the current Zika outbreak in Rajasthan cannot be taken as a case in isolation,” said Deepesh Vendoti, a consultant with the thinktank Observer Research Foundation.
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“It would be a gross misjudgement to do so,” he added.
This spell of infection marks India’s third tryst with the virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), three cases diagnosed in Ahmedabad in January 2017 were the first. Then, in July, cases were reported from Tamil Nadu.
Since its identification over 70 years ago, Zika virus has been reported in 86 countries, with the biggest outbreak occurring in Brazil in 2015.
Our little Ananya was on her way the last time it happened. It terrified me, fears I did not share fully with my wife and daughter in law. Later it turned out that information about its spread was deliberately suppressed because some international event was scheduled.