Zika virus scare: Centre rushes multidisciplinary team to Kanpur after UP reports 1st case

The Central Government sent a multidisciplinary team on Monday after Uttar Pradesh reported its first case of the Zika virus in Kanpur. The team will collaborate closely with the State Health Department to examine the situation on the ground and determine if the Union Health Ministry's Zika Management Action Plan is being implemented, said Central Government.

"The team will also recommend necessary public health interventions for the management of Zika in the state of Uttar Pradesh," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.

The Union Health Ministry has deployed a multidisciplinary team comprised of an entomologist, public health specialists, and gynaecologists from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, National Center for Disease Control, and RML Hospital in New Delhi to assist state health authorities in controlling and containing the Zika virus disease. 

First case of Zika virus in Uttar Pradesh

On October 22, 2021, a 57-year-old man from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, tested positive for Zika virus sickness. Dr Nepal Singh, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Kanpur on Sunday informed, "Yesterday, one person infected with Zika virus was found in  Kanpur.  He is an Indian Air Force personnel. We have formed teams as soon as we received the information. With the help of 10 teams, we started taking precautionary action in his residential area and the workplace."

He added, "House to house survey, line listing, fogging, cleaning was undertaken with the help of municipality. 22 samples of his close contacts, who were symptomatic, were sent to King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow for testing."

What is Zika virus? What are its symptoms?

The Zika virus is mostly transmitted by infected mosquitos and is also a sexually transmitted disease. The Zika virus can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her unborn child. Guillain–Barré syndrome is another possibility. Mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint discomfort, malaise, or a headache are symptoms of this disease, which is caused by a virus spread mostly by the Aedes mosquito that mainly bite during the day. There is no specific treatment for the virus, and no vaccination has been approved to prevent it from spreading.

(with inputs from ANI)

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