Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday asked people to not panic after a case of Zika virus was reported from a village under Purandar taluka in Pune. A three-member central team was sent to Pune for a detailed review. The medical team visited the village on Saturday and met the sarpanch and gram panchayat members and instructed them about preventive measures.
“The first case of Zika virus (in Maharashtra) was identified in Pune and the infected is a woman. After detailed information, state health department has taken steps on preventive actions such as fogging. Our department is also doing surveillance and cleaning water, “Rajesh Tope said today.
“Mosquito breeding areas are being destroyed and symptoms of patients monitored. Steps are being taken to ensure there is no spread of the disease,” he added.
The woman patient, 50, diagnosed with Zika has recovered completely, the state health department had said last week.
The three-member central team comprises a public health expert from the office of Regional Director, Pune; a gynecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi; and an entomologist from National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR, New Delhi.
Maharashtra surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate had last week told news agency PTI that there was no need to panic. “Zika is a moderate disease as 80 per cent patients do not get any symptoms and remaining 20 per cent have moderate flu-like symptoms. One can recover by drinking enough water, taking rest and having a simple paracetamol tablet,” he had said.
The Zika virus spreads through the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito and most patients do not have symptoms. Its most common symptoms are fever, body ache and conjunctivitis.
