All three patients are well, no fresh cases of Zika virus in state: Gujarat govt

New Delhi: The Gujarat government on Sunday said that all three cases of Zika virus reported in the state were isolated and are cured.

The clarification from Gujarat Chief secretary JN Singh came a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) bulletin confirmed India's first three Zika virus cases in Ahmedabad.

However, Mr Singh said that out of three Zika cases, one was reported from Gopalnagar in the posh SP Stadium ward and two positive cases – both pregnant women - were reported from the Bapunagar area of the city, adding that the WHO bulletin had also wrongly reported about the February 2016 case.

“The cases were reported between November 2016 and February 2017. The WHO bulletin wrongly reported about the February 2016 case,” he said.

He further said that all three cases are old and and have shown no complications till now.

According to Singh, both the pregnant mothers, from Bapunagar and SP Stadium areas, whose blood samples have tested positive for the virus, have delivered healthy babies and the 64-year-old senior citizen has shown no complications so far.

Singh added that although the state government did not reveal about the Zika cases to the public, the BJ Medical College lab informed the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, which in turn informed ICMR and the Union government as per protocol.

Her further added that the NIV Pune is yet to submit a report on the gene sequencing of the virus to pinpoint the origin of the virus.

JP Gupta,Gujarat's health commissioner, said more than 600 blood samples were collected from Bapunagar area and some 2,441 blood samples from across the city were sent to NIV Pune for Zika virus confirmation. However, none of these samples have tested positive for Zika virus.

No fresh Zika virus cases have been detected so far in the state.

Zika fever is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which also transmit dengue and chikungunya. 

Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had recently launched a campaign to make Gujarat malaria-free by 2020, where multi-purpose health workers have been deputed for fever surveillance and source reduction activities.

During the house to house campaign, over 90 blood samples were collected which were found to be negative for malaria, dengue or chikungunya, the AMC stated.

As part of the campaign, as many as 1,650 health workers would visit 15.40 lakh houses and other places to check for mosquito breeding sites.