Zika virus: Five new cases detected in Jaipur, total number now up to 60
Fogging is being carried out in the heavily-affected Shastri Nagar area to control the spread of the virus.
A Rajasthan Health Department official said that five new cases of the Zika virus infection were detected in Jaipur on Sunday, taking the total number of such cases to 60. The figures were issued after a meeting headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Veenu Gupta, PTI reported.
Measures to control the outbreak of the virus were discussed at the meeting. “Forty-five out of the total 60 patients are healthy after treatment,” the unidentified health department official said, after the meeting. Most of the cases have been reported from the Shastri Nagar area in Jaipur.
Fogging is being carried out in the area to prevent the spread of the virus, the official said. Till Saturday, health officials had carried out a door-to-door survey of 76,000 households, and mosquito larvae was found and quarantined in nearly 64,000 homes, he added.
Gupta said two lakh water containers have been checked and 50,000 containers with mosquito larvae destroyed, the Hindustan Times reported. She appealed to the people not to allow mosquitoes to breed in their localities. But she added that Zika is not fatal.
On Saturday, reports said the number of Zika monitoring teams in Jaipur has been increased from 50 to 170, and an isolation ward created at the Hira Bagh Training Centre to treat patients. The Centre has also provided the Rajasthan government with information, education and communication material to create awareness about the virus among the public.
The Zika virus is mainly transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti that carries dengue. Most people infected with Zika will show no symptoms or will have only mild symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and, possibly, muscle pain and headaches that may last for several days to a week. In September, Rajasthan had recorded its first case of Zika virus infection after a woman tested positive in Jaipur.