Zika virus cases confirmed in the state of Kerala, India

The health authorities in Kerala, the Indian State, have declared an alarming situation in all the districts. The state has identified 14 cases of the zika virus.

The Health Minister of Kerala, Veena George, has confirmed that the infections have reportedly taken place in Trivandrum.

India reported the outbreak of zika previously in the western state of Gujarat back in 2016-17. This is a mosquito-borne virus. It links with the shrunken brains of children. Also, it is found in the auto-immune disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome.

This virus mostly spread through mosquitoes. But it can get transmitted sexually. All of the new cases took place in the health workers in this district. Ms. George also said that the first identified patient with zika virus is a 24 years old pregnant woman. She is from the town of the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. However, she was admitted to the capital city of Trivandrum on the 28th of June with headaches, rashes, fever. She delivered her baby on Wednesday.

“Her condition is stable. The delivery was normal. She has no travel history outside the state,” Ms. George said.

This ongoing rainy season is causing the breeding ground for mosquitoes. The health secretary of Kerala, Dr. Rajan Khobragade, also said that the government had sent its teams for surveillance. It would also take place in the outbreak areas. They will make people aware of the disease.

Kerala is battling with the second wave of coronavirus infections. The rate for the positive tests is remaining above 10% from the past week. However, the first case of coronavirus in India emerged from this state in January of 2020.

Zika virus, at first isolated from the monkeys living in the Zika jungle of Uganda in 1947. It had a formal description as a distinct virus in 1952. However, the researchers discovered a significant number of people in India exposed to the virus. A total of 33 of the 196 tested cases for this new disease have immunity.

“It, therefore, seems certain that Zika virus attacks human beings in India,” they concluded in a paper published in 1953.

In 2016 and 2017, the cases emerged in Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Credits: BBC