Centre rushes a high-level team to Maharashtra after Zika virus case

The three-member Central team consists of a public health expert, a gynaecologist and an entomologist.

Representational Image (ANI)

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday (August 2, 2021) rushed a high-level team to Maharashtra after the state reported its first Zika virus case. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare rushed a multidisciplinary team to monitor the situation and support the state government in the management of Zika cases. 

A 50-year-old woman from Belsar village in Purandar tehsil (Pune) was diagnosed with the Zika virus infection on July 30. 

The three-member Central team consists of a public health expert from the office of Regional Director (Pune), a gynaecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College (Delhi) and an entomologist from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), ICMR (Delhi).

The Health Ministry informed that the team will assess whether the Union Health Ministry's Action Plan for Zika Management is being implemented or not. They will also recommend necessary public health interventions for the management of Zika in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Pune district health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar has said that surveillance has been increased in four to five villages within the radius of the Belsar village.

"Samples of suspected patients are being collected and sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The breeding spots of mosquitoes are being destroyed in villages," he said.

This is to be noted that the Zika virus spreads mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, which bites during the day. The same mosquito transmits other diseases like dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

(With agency inputs)