Kerala is on high alert as Zika virus cases are rising to 14
Kerala, which was caught in the heavy caseload of Covid-19, has been placed on high alert after the outbreak of Zika virus. The federal government has taken a team of experts to the state. The state health ministry said at least 14 cases had been confirmed.
A 24-year-old pregnant woman from Parasala in Thiruvananthapuram district tested positive for Zika on Thursday and was later added to the list of 13 people. Of the 19 samples sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, 14 were found to be positive. Health Minister Veena George then called an emergency meeting and worked out an action plan.
"We have launched an intensive vector control program and the entire state has been alerted. We are closely monitoring the situation and testing labs will be opened," the minister said, adding that there was no need to panic.
Health officials said samples were sent to the NIV last week and that the mother gave birth normally on July 7 and both mother and baby were stable. At least 60 samples have been sent to Pune and health officials are busy arranging for the samples to be tested at the NIV Regional Center in Alappuzha.
In Delhi, Joint Secretary of Health Lau Agarwal said a six-member expert panel has rushed to help the state. "The six-member team includes veterinarians and doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences," he said.
The virus is often transmitted by mosquitoes, although experts say it can also be spread sexually. However, some people die from Zika, and only one in five develops symptoms. Symptoms of the disease were first identified in monkeys in Uganda in 1947 and include the first human, joint pain, fever and headache reported from Nigeria in 1954. In May 2015, it was reported in Brazil and spread rapidly. It leads to brain shrinkage in children and a rare auto-immune disease called Guilin-Barr Syndrome, which was first reported in Gujarat in 2017, experts said.
Symptoms Of Zika Virus
Unlike COVID-19, the symptoms of Zika virus are mild. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, headache, red eyes, muscle aches and joint pain.
Although the incubation period is said to be between 3-14 days, the symptoms last for 2–7 days. However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), individuals infected with the Zika virus do not develop symptoms. The CDC believes that infected people will not be sick enough to be admitted to the hospital in general and that they will very rarely die from Zika.
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