Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
At least 89 people have tested positive virus Zika due to the spike in cases in Kanpur City, India. A total of 17 of them infected children.
“There is a spike in Zika virus cases (in India) and the health department has formed several teams to prevent the spread of (Zika virus),” said Chief Medical Officer in Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Nepal Singh, quoted from Reuters.
“There are women who are pregnant and we pay more attention to that woman.”
Not only that, Singh said the government was increasing their surveillance of the spread of the Zika virus. The government has also destroyed breeding grounds for mosquitoes that transmit the virus.
While cases of Zika virus infection have been reported frequently in various Indian states in recent years, Uttar Pradesh official Amit Mohan Prasad said the spike was the first in his region.
The Zika virus case in Kanpur was first detected on October 23. Since then, the number of cases of this virus infection has increased.
“People are getting positive results because we do contact tracing very strictly,” Prasad said.
Previously, the Zika virus was also detected in Kerala. There were 14 positive cases detected in the region.
Citing AFP, among the patients was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who was undergoing treatment at a hospital in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala State Health Minister Veena George said the patient had tested positive on Thursday. Meanwhile, 13 more cases were confirmed as of Friday.
“All of them are health workers and are currently under medical treatment, but stable,” he said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Zika virus is mostly spread through the bite of the Aedes mosquito but can also be transmitted sexually.
The virus was first discovered in monkeys in Uganda’s Zika forest in 1947 and has caused several outbreaks around the world in recent decades.
There are no vaccines or antiviral drugs available for prevention or treatment. Some of the symptoms of this virus include fever, skin rash, and muscle and joint pain. However, deaths from this virus are rare.
(pwn / bac)
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